A Fistful Of Glitter In The Air
by Fedora13
Summary: The life and times of Casey Jones: vigilante, badass, hockey player, best friend, older sister, daughter, and connoisseur of red lipstick. Rule63!Casey, TMNT 2012 AU of Season 2
1. Part One

**A/N: **Hey guys! Welcome to my first story on in well a long time. I have this story posted over on AO3 as well (details on that account will be in the profile). I just wanted to post it over here as well. Chapter titles will be phrases from P!nk songs because I think Casey Jones, no matter what, will love P!nk. No arguing with headcanons here. So yeah, first story in a new fandom...I am really sorry if it's terrible. I was trying to keep Casey a bit Casey while adding a different spin to the character. This is a Rule 63, genderswap AU based on the 2012 series. Title of the story is from P!nk's song "Glitter in the Air" and the first chapter title is from "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)".

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles _in any form.

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**Part One: **_I'll dress nice. I'll look good. I'll go dancing alone._

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No one ever knew what to make of the red lips.

Oh sure, stories have been told about them. The red lips appeared shortly after she entered the eighth grade, much to the chagrin of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

She was still a blonde then, long blonde hair like her mother's. Everyday she was sent to the bathroom to wipe the red off her lips, yet it always appeared back there the next time they seemed to look.

It was like the red had found a home on her mouth and it wasn't leaving.

It mocked the nuns. They said that red was not a color becoming of a young girl, that a clean face meant a clean heart. She just had to laugh because she knew the girls with clean faces were planning on doing dirtier things then she was. At least she was honest with her made-up face about who she was.

Kind of. She was never that good at that fancy talking metaphor stuff, despite being in private school for eight years.

Besides she thought that "clean face, clean heart" rule was pure bullshit anyway.

A lot of notes were sent home with her during that time, but her dad never could bring himself to tell her to stop. In those days, he couldn't bring himself to do a lot of things.

Everyone just thought that her red lips were a sign of her own rebellion and hurt. She was pretty sure that's what the dumbass counselor thought at least. She hated seeing that quack and was glad when her dad said she didn't have to anymore.

So she painted her lips red and made sure her sister got to where she needed to go. And she fought with scraped knuckles in alleyways still in her checked skirt from Sacred Heart. She fought on the ice, graceful under the bulk of equipment with dirty fight tactics. She would watch the red from a well placed punch spill on the white of the ice.

Those boys would see her lips painted red around her mouth guard and her eyes cold as ice on the rink before she struck.

They thought her lips were red because it was the color of blood. Like she was reborn from a warrior queen from the history books who would bath in the blood of her enemies on top of the mountain of skulls of her assassins and bring the wrath of her sword down before you. Admittedly, this was a pretty cool idea and one she gleefully encouraged. It wasn't the right answer though.

She left Sisters of the Sacred Heart after eighth grade finish. She went to public school instead. Where she threatened a lawsuit to the school if they didn't let her play on the boy's ice hockey team. Her blonde hair was gone by them, chopped short and dyed dark the night before the first day of classes.

For as big of a fuss they all kicked up, they didn't seem to care so much once she started winning them games. Course, no one liked about the amount of time she spent in the penalty box, but if knocking in a few teeth established her dominance then she was happy to do it.

She only told one person why she wore her red lipstick. She and Nick, they shared everything, it seemed silly not to share it with him. And even when they just…stopped. He still kept it to himself. Another secret to add to his own collection of them that clung to him like the smoke of his favorite clove cigarettes.

"You don't seem the kind of girl to wear red lipstick," he said at first, walking out of practice together. It was still those early days when their friendship was new and awkward. Both of them would be damp from showers. There was always a fresh coat of red covering her lips.

She would grin at him wickedly, "S'part of the reason why I got 'em, Nick."

And they would laugh before delving into a comfortable silence.

Course after it happened…well those things didn't happen for her again.

She told herself that was okay. People just stop sometimes. It was a good lesson about the way the world works. Still without the tutoring he was giving her then he grades took a downturn. She was held back a grade. Her father had her transfer schools and she felt so stupid.

She hated feeling stupid. She hated him for making her feel that way. She hated herself for letting it happen.

She hated people she let in because they always kept leaving her. Her dad had a new girlfriend, some woman who smelled of perfume and wear nylons with seams up the back. Her sister had new friends, who didn't like her weird older sister hanging around.

She was alone. It wasn't the end of the world.

She wasn't the kind of girl to a let freaking guy mess her up. She just wasn't. Boys come and go, but she couldn't wallow in herself forever. So she showed up at the new school, played up the reputation of the tough girl, and kept everyone away from her. She made the hockey team but the coach was clear that he grades could not go down the tank again.

"I'm given you a chance 'cause you're the best damn shot in the city. Don't let me down," said the man sternly.

"Wasn't plannin' on it, sir," she said before smiling with those bright red lips. It felt more like a baring of her teeth like an animal.

She's not dumb. It's something that she needs to state. School just isn't something she's all that interested in. She pulls decent grades in science and creative writing based on liking the subject matter. She gets glowing remarks from her shop and art teachers because she's good with her hands.

It's just her and Trig, man. She and Trig do not get along. First, she had Trig's evil little sister called Geometry. Geometry was just full of not good times.

Proofs…she shudders thinking about proofs. Why does she have to explain the work if she knows how to get the right answer? It's total bullshit.

She considers her problem as she rubs her middle finger on her lipstick and then dabs it onto her lips. There's a science to red lips here people. She may not be into a lot of this girly stuff. She doesn't wear dresses and has chucked out every skirt she owned after she left the Sisters. But she knows how to get her lips the way she likes them.

As she eyes her handiwork, she admits to herself that she is going to have to get a peer tutor.

She's also pretty sure that all of the peer tutors are terrified of her because…of reasons. She has no freaking cool. She doesn't talk to anyone and usually ends up hitting people with her pucks on accident.

…

Okay so that's probably why all the peer tutors are scared of her. Still she consults the list carefully to find someone who will tutor her.

And only one name seems to stick out, April O'Neil.

She hasn't been at this school long but yeah, she had already heard of O'Neil. Her family life had caused quite a stir around this place.

Disappeared dad, dead mom, lives with her aunt. She's popular but a bit distant.

But she's her best hope.

April O'Neil took a deep steadying breath before opening her locker. It never hurt to have a little pep talk.

(Even if she was feeling achingly lonely and boiling with rage over what her…the turtles did to her father. She is not going to think about the five hundred times over the time apart from them that she alternated between nearly turning on her Tphone and throwing it against the wall. She is not going to think about it because it elads to anger and loneliness and she is just done with all of this okay? Done.)

April shook her head and took another breath. Yes. She needed to give herself a pep talk.

"Okay April. This is a fresh start. Just…just pretend that you're normal. Don't think about aliens from another dimension, robotic ninjas, mutated dads, or…turtles. Don't think about turtles."

"Hey lookit here fellas! It's Weird O'Neil."

Oh…sewerapples. DAMMIT! Now she was thinking about turtles!

"Hey Travis," she said through gritted teeth.

Some people you just have the misfortune of going through school with. Travis Conners was definitely one of those people. He and April had been in class together since Kindergarten and April would be hard-pressed to say that he had gotten any smarter in the interim.

Still he was six foot six, built like a brick wall, and was meaner then a hellhound, April knew that this was probably not going to end well.

"So Weird O'Neil I heard that your daddy up and left you again. Guess even science geeks like him know to keep away from dorks like you."

Oh April saw red in that moment.

She was just about to sock him in the jaw when she head a slap of something and then the thud of Travis' body as his knees went out from under him.

April went from seeing red to being confused in three seconds flat. Especially at the hockey puck next to Travis' shocked form.

"Ya know Travis. I thought your mom raised you better then that," said a new voice.

April turned eye to the new person involved in the conflict.

A girl, about the height of Donatello and just as leanly muscled, stood at the end of the hallway. Her hair was short, black, and in a choppy messy cut of someone who went after it with scissors on their own. She wore old boots, ripped jeans, a black t-shirt over a light grey shirt, and a hooded vest. Around her wrist was a tied black bandana with skulls on it.

Her body language seemed opened and friendly with a hockey stick casually slung across her shoulders. Her red lips, the only color besides black or grey on her body, were pulled into a faux friendly smile that showed way too much teeth. Her eyes, though, were ice cold.

She had heard what Travis said to April, and she was not happy at all.

"What the hell do you want, you hockey freak?" snarled Travis as he stumbled back up.

The girl tutted and wagged her finger at him mockingly, "Bad dog. Don't make me have you heel. Ain't no one tell you that you shouldn't call a lady names?"

"You're not lady."

"Oh! Good! Now that we agreed on that," the girl brought down the hockey stick and took out another puck, "I can give you a concussion a lot easier. You know how fast I can hit one of these babies? Faster then you can move, Travis. And let's be honest here, your brain can't afford to take another hit in terms of thinkin' power. Now you apologize and run along."

Travis seemed to grasp exactly what the girl was saying and scrambled up on his feet. He muttered a half-assed apology to April before taking off down the hallway, turning the corner before the girl could hit him in the back with a puck again.

"Tch. Coward," snorted the girl. She picked up both pucks and slid them into her messenger bag. "You alright, Red?"

It took April a second longer then she would have like to realize the strange girl was speaking to her.

"I had it under control," she said defensively.

The taller girl blinked in surprised and smiled, showing off a missing canine in her grin.

"'Course you did, Red," said the girl seriously like she honestly believed April had it under control, "I was just looking for an excuse to practice my slap shot."

For some reason, this simple faith flustered April a bit as she held her textbook closer, "Yes well. Thank you. You didn't have to do that."

The girl shrugged and looked at her carefully, "So you're April O'Neil, huh?"

"Yes…?"

"Awesome. You're doing peer tutorin' right? 'Cause I need one for Trig. I'm kind of failing and Coach says I need to keep my grades up if I want to keep on the team," explained the girl simply.

She then wickedly smirked with a teasing light in her eyes, "And all of the other peer tutors are kind of put off by my sheer awesomeness."

April, despite herself, let out a small giggle. Shaking off her last vestiges of rage at the girl's expression and tone.

"Alright. Alright. I'll help you. You know the park near Antonio's pizzeria?"

"Real Antonio's, Authentic Antonio's, or just Antonio's?"

"Just Antonio's. Meet me there at seven. I like to study out there when the weather is nice."

"S'date then, Red," said the girl placing the hockey stick between her shoulders and wrapping her arms around it. She smiled again, "You headin' to Trig now? I'll walk ya there and we can tell Miss H what's up."

"Oh! Sure thanks," said April, quickly double-checking her books and notebooks in her arms.

The two of them took off the hall. The girl hummed slightly under her breath.

"What's your name anyway?" asked April, realizing that her name was never spoken in the confrontation or their conversation.

The girl's red lips twitched upwards into a smile, "Name's Casey Jones, Red, and don't you forget it."

Funnily enough, April had the odd feeling that she wasn't going to anytime soon.


	2. Part Two

**A/N:**The title comes from P!nk's "So What". This and the first of the series have not been beta'd. Sorry about that. Also some dialogue comes from the fourth episode of the second season "Mutagen Man Unleashed". It's not too much just some of April's lines and most of Timothy's. Thanks for everyone who has read, favorited, and followed so far! You're awesome!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" in any incarnation or form.

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**Part Two:**_I'm Gonna Get In Trouble. I Wanna Start A Fight._

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Casey decided that April O'Neil was a pretty tough customer.

They had lunch together because April wanted a good idea on where Casey was having problems in Trig. It quickly became clear that the answer was everything. Casey was having issues with everything in Trig.

During that time, at least four people had pointed at her and about dozen were clearly talking about her current fatherless predicament, all of which would have had Casey play puck to face roulette with some of them.

Yet April was clearly ignoring it and pretending like nothing was wrong. Oh she knew something was wrong but she wasn't going to let the wrongness invade her life at this moment in time. Even if she had every right to just curl up in a ball in a corner somewhere because someone she loved had vanished from her life.

Casey respected the hell out of that life philosophy. Oh sure maybe it wasn't like healthy to repress it, but you needed to do something to get through the day.

No one tells you how to get through the day to day when someone that important is gone, nonetheless when they disappear twice.

So they sat together with April pointedly ignoring the whispers and Casey sprawled out inelegantly on three chairs.

"Yeah. Okay I can see why you need help," said April giving up the endeavor of finding something that Casey was good at in the subject.

Casey's mouth twitched upward, "Coulda told you that myself, Red. I'm just not that good at math."

"But in your other classes you're doing fine?" asked April.

"Shop is a pass/fail class. I'm passing by the way. Teacher loves me. I'm pretty decent at drawing so Art's an easy A. I like chemistry and even if my work isn't always perfect, I get the result that is needed. Creative writing is just, ya know, making up stories and shit. Not exactly stuff for a rocket scientist. History…well yeah I'm pulling a C there but I have a hard time remembering numbers so it's the dates that trip me up. Trust me they're better grades then I was getting last year. Except Trig. Trig's where I was last year."

April looked confused, "Last year?"

"Failed all my classes, Red. Nothing says wake up call like having to repeat your sophomore year at a new school," said Casey with a wry grin. She paused and blew a piece of her black hair out of her vision.

Then she winced when she saw the uncomfortable look on April's face. Crap, not many people like to hear you repeated a grade. Okay she can fix this before scaring off her only chance of passing Trig. Casey quickly rearranged herself from her sprawl into a lotus style posture on one chair.

"S'alright now, Red. I was just a dumbass last year. Being a dumbass is rarely if ever rewarded.

"When is it rewarded?" asked April after a couple of seconds. Her brows were furrowed together like she didn't really know.

Casey grinned, "Usually when it pans out in your favor even if you didn't intend for it to happen. That's when being a dumbass is rewarded. Internet fame, television clip show…shit like that."

April bit her lip, but a little giggle was escaped. After a couple seconds of fighting it, she started giggling a bit more like she wasn't sure why she found it that funny but she did.

Casey looked absolutely delighted, "Made you laugh! You got a cute giggle there, Red."

Huh. Casey didn't know whether to be proud or worried that April was now blushing the exact shade of red as her hair. It was definitely cute though.

"Awww don't blush like that on my account, Red."

"I'm not blushing on your account, Jones," said April trying to stop blushing and be that tough customer again.

Casey laughed as the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. She stood and did a free throw with her trash, pumping her fist in the air when it made the trashcan with room to spare on either side.

Seriously, Casey Jones' awesome knew no bounds.

"Sure, Red," she called over her shoulder with a wink. "Catch you later. Seven right?"

"Seven on the dot, Jones!" called April desperately trying not to blush and give the other girl the satisfaction. Casey Jones is a horrible flirt apparently. The problem is April was just unused to being flirted with whether it was by boy or girl.

She was pretty sure that if someone did it with the intent to date her, she would never, ever know. God it sucked to have those awkward years and miss out on those boy-girl parties. She probably would have known something about flirting.

Casey waved her hand lazily before disappearing around the corner.

April sighed. She was starting to think this whole 'be a normal teenage girl' thing was harder then previously thought. Not that she thought it was going to easy leaving behind a life of mutants, ninja turtles, and alien robots…but yeah, definitely harder than she thought.

She had study hall now. At least, maybe she can start figuring out easy problems for Casey's study session later. It's clear that they needed to work up from back to basics.

Then maybe after she did that she could read that new book she bought the other day.

(Maybe it will take her mind off of missing what she normally did during study hall, which was text the Turtles about a variety of different things. Sometimes it was just nice to talk with them when it wasn't an emergency. But no. No. She is not missing them. She is not.)

Casey Jones, despite appearances to the contrary, was an extremely punctual person. It was the side effect of growing up in a family where if you were fifteen minutes early, then you were on time and if you were on time, then you were late.

So after practice, after assuring Coach that yes she had a tutor and yes she will be getting her Trig grade to a C, she made the bike ride to the small park near Antonio's pizzeria.

"Goooood evening, Red!" she called out making April jump. Casey stifled an inner laugh at April's shocked face. Apparently, she was expecting Casey to be late.

Casey so loved screwing with people's expectations of her. It really was the little things in life that brought her so much joy.

"Casey," said April trying to keep the surprise out of her voice, "hey. I wasn't expecting you until later."

"Practice is done at six. So I took a shower, talked to coach, and came right over. Of course I'm starving now, but I promised Coach that I would be getting a C in Trig so I can keep on the team. I'm hoping like hunger can help focus my mind and stuff. Because I need it. I need it bad, Red."

Her story finished, Casey collapsed into the swig next to April in a grand over the top maneuver. Her eyes shut and her hand to her forehead in a mock swoon as she kept her balance on the swing.

"Really, Jones?" asked April with her own lip twitching. She was clearly fighting a smile.

Casey opened an eye with a grin on her red lips, "Too much?"

"Just a bit," said April as she replaced the book she was reading with the Trig textbook, "Okay. So I think what we need to do here is start at the bottom and work our way up. You need to build a strong foundation and know that really well. Once you understand that inside out then everything should be easy."

"Easy peasy lemon squeezy?" said Casey as she twisted the chain of her swig and moved over to look at the book.

"I'll let you know when we reach lemon squeezy levels, Jones," deadpanned April.

"I'll hold you to that then, Red. Now foundations," said Casey with a nod. "Okay yeah let's fix the foundations then."

April looked at her notes and began the process of explaining to Casey the things she didn't understand (in relation to Trig anyway).

It was actually nice. It was the first time in awhile that she wasn't thinking about _them_.

For the record, Donatello would just like to point out that he wasn't stalking April. What he was doing was merely a precautionary measure.

Even if…Even if April hated them (_him_), then well she was a still a target of the Kraang for whatever reason made sense in their twisted alien brains. So on patrol, he would just swing by the park or run past her aunt's place to make sure the light was on.

He just needed to make sure that she wasn't in trouble that they had put her.

It was past seven and a nice night. The fall air was a pleasant coolness on his skin, not horribly chilled. So April would probably be out studying in the park near Antonio's.

He checked over his shoulder. Leo and Raph were trying to get Mikey to take stealth training seriously. That or to not go around eating strange pizza left on rooftops. Both options were, in Donatello's book, valuable life lessons for their youngest brother to learn.

Still, it provided an opportunity for him to quickly check on April and come back before he was missed.

Of course, he wasn't expecting April to be with someone.

It was a _human boy_. Donatello could only see him from behind but he was certain about it. He had messy, dark hair of medium-ish length and was dressed in black and gray. His boots made a line in the sand as he rocked the tangled up chains of his swing back and forth gently. His head was bent over the textbook as April pointed something out in it.

Something was said, but Donnie couldn't hear it, whatever it was made April start laughing so hard that she snorted. He leaned closer and went tumbling off the building, falling into the dumpster below.

"Did you hear that?" asked April after a crashing rang out into the peacefulness of the night.

Casey narrowed her eyes and waited for several seconds. When it seemed like no one was going to come out and attack them, she just shrugged.

"Must be some raccoons fighting it out in the dumpster."

"Really?" replied April in a fond exasperation.

"They're vicious little bastards, Red," said Casey brightly. "It's why I like 'em so much. They know how to survive."

"Still. I think we should wrap it up for the night," April said checking her watch.

"Yeah. Probably the best idea…sorry if it was annoying. All my questions," said Casey with a shrug, "I know I'm not the best at this stuff. S'why I'm thinking of become a member of US Hockey team in the Olympics, an international bounty hunter, or a graffiti artist one day."

April's eyebrows quirked up at that, "Really?"

Casey's hand quickly reached up to touch something underneath her shirt.

"Yeah. Who wants an ordinary life anyway, Red?"

She didn't see the incomprehensible look that flashed across April's face as she went to go unchain her bike. Casey looked over her shoulder, "Come on, Red. You want something to eat? There's an awesome grilled cheese truck that parks near here every couple nights around this time."

April paused and picked up her books. Maybe Casey didn't fit the whole "normal teenage girl" definition that she wanted to hit, but dammit she kind of liked the other girl.

April nodded, a smile on her face.

"Yeah. That sounds like fun, Casey."

"Cool. My treat. Least I can do for you, Red."

When Casey Jones said that she didn't want a normal life, she was being perfectly serious about it. She doesn't want a normal life. She wants to do something that **_matters_**. She does want to make a difference.

Maybe Casey Jones isn't going to set the world on fire. Maybe she isn't going to change it in a huge way. But she's not going to settle for being anything less than extraordinary.

Maybe she's not smart enough to do it, but that doesn't mean her other skills should be ruled out.

Case in point: there is a giant green Jell-O like thing with clearly visible intestines coming toward her and April as they walked to April's home. At first, Casey thought that maybe those fresh mushrooms in her grilled cheese sandwich were for some other purpose then edibility.

One look at April's face, who did not have mushrooms in her grilled cheese, told Casey that she wasn't hallucinating.

If this isn't a sign from the universe telling Casey that she was meant for more than an ordinary life, then Casey doesn't know what is.

"APRILLLLL!" screeched the thing from a creaky voice box. It's strange hands made grabby motions at her, like a toddler demanding a favorite toy.

Casey acted without really thinking, positioning herself between April and the monster.

"April I know you can handle yourself, but this thing clearly wants you. So I'm going to distract and you're going to get on my bike, get to your house, and like…I don't know call the Coast Guard or something!"

This thing was totally cool looking in like an awesome gross disgusting kind of way. She wasn't going to let it get her Trig tutor though.

"PUNK! KID! I! WILL! GET! YOU!" cried the thing as it ran toward them.

Casey pushed April out of the way before diving into a nearby trash heap. She saw a pipe there. She know she did.

"Come on. Come on. Come on," she said fervently. The thing started stomping behind her. She could feel her heart in her throat but cleared her head.

Her hands wrapped around the pipe. She took a deep breath and the world became smaller in that moment.

She jumped out of the dumpster just as the thing reached it. Disappearing into the darkness of the alley, she smirked at seeing the trash spilled across it.

It seems like the tank was keeping it together. If she could crack the tank, get it to explode, then the thing would be goo across the street.

She spun the pipe in her hand and ran toward her ammunition. She started hitting anything that she could. There had to be a weak point in the glass, somewhere anywhere.

It wasn't breaking. It refused to break.

Okay. Time for the stupid plan then, this should be good. After all her best plans were usually stupid ones.

She took a running start.

Swing and a promise, Casey thought as she cried out. "GOONGALA!"

She struck with all of her strength, which was no joke. She then tumbled into a pile of trash, the pipe rolling away from her.

And the thing was still coming as if it hadn't stopped.

"NOW! I! CRUSH! YOU!" cried its humanly inhuman voice.

Well…_frak. _Casey always thought that she would probably end up dead at a young age.

But this really wasn't how she wanted to go.

Casey was trying to orient herself and grab the pipe for defense. Thankfully, at that moment, a strange black boomerang fly through the air and hit the tank, distracting the thing.

"I don't think so, gruesome," said April with eyes like steel and a strange metal fan in her hand.

Casey definitely wasn't expecting that when she woke up this morning.

Now she understood how girls in those magical girl anime feel. Which was something else she wasn't expecting would happen today.

Today's been weird.

Casey took a moment to appreciate April's surprisingly graceful fighting style and form. Then she grabbed her pipe and stood up, ready for round two.

"APRIL! FRIEND!" insisted the thing as earnestly as its voice box could allow.

"Well isn't that the definition of stranger danger. Been talking to weirdos online O'Neil?"

April's look told her that it was not the time. Casey just smirked unrepentantly and gestured to their newer, uglier group member.

"We're not friends, you walking anatomy class!" said April as she struck out with her metal fan.

"Sorry handsome but we girls gotta stick together. Especially from creeps who don't take no for an answer," quipped Casey as she struck out with her pipe.

Then, almost as if by agreement, she and April struck from both sides.

It did nothing.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT GLASS MADE OF?!" cried Casey in exasperation.

"NOT THE TIME, CASEY!"

Casey had to agree. But still the point stood to be made.

She went to go to attack the thing, which really needed a name, from behind.

Except that it turned, wrenched the pipe from her hand, and mostly melted it with its acidic touch.

"Acid hands?" she asked weakly before getting punched back a couple of feet.

Dammit that would have been so cool, if it didn't hurt so damn much. Casey quickly caught her breath, years of being winded from a well place hit on the ice (or just in a general fight) had taught her body a fast recovery time.

Luckily, the thing (okay that's it she was naming him Goo Guy) punched her near her bike.

Casey cracked her neck, settled on her bike, and began pedaling for her life as she saw Goo Guy advance on April.

April saw her and her hand was already waiting.

With natural strength assisted by adrenaline, Casey grabbed her and wrenched April onto the bike.

"How fast can you go?!" called April as Goo Guy approached.

"Faster then Goo Guy!" Well at least she hoped she was faster then Goo Guy.

"Goo Guy?!"

"Well I had to name it something! I couldn't keep on calling it 'the thing' because then that makes me think of _John Carpenter's The Thing_ and not the good one. I'll keep thinking about the shitty prequel from a couple years back. Then all THAT will do is make me go into a rage felt by fellow horror movie buffs. I refuse to die thinking of that piece of shit and in a total rage!"

"That's a nice story and all Casey but…he's gaining on us!"

Casey looked over her shoulder.

"OH FOR FU-" she began before taking the piece of acid burned pipe just as Goo Guy's creepy paws were about to enclose on April and threw it as hard as she could.

The pipe, apparently as sick of Goo Guy as she was, struck true. Casey crowed in delight as Goo Guy rolled down the street. Right as he was about to get up, Goo Guy got hit by a truck in a case of really fortunate timing and flew into the air.

Casey stopped the bike on the sidewalk, breathing heavily.

"God I hope he won't come back. That had to break that damn glass."

"Seriously? Seriously with the glass still?"

"I will hate that glass until the day I die. I go driving with my permit once and my dad's car gets a tiny crack in a windshield from a goddamn pebble. We hit that thing with a sizable pipe and metal fan thingie…"

"It's called a tessen," corrected April helpfully. Her eyes were bright from the rush of the fight and there was some color in her cheeks.

"And a tessen," said Casey not missing a beat. "We didn't get one damn scratch on Goo Guy's tank. Now either the universe wants to screw us around or God has a twisted sense of humor. Either way that glass was the real enemy for it refused to break and thus was our true enemy."

April stared at her.

Casey stared back with a raised eyebrow.

April nodded to herself, "Okay. Yeah definitely time to go home. Because that? That started to make sense to me. And when that makes sense to me, it's time to go home."

"Yeah that sounds about right, Red," said Casey as she got off her bike. "I'm walking you home though."

"I think that I would appreciate that."

"Do you think I could get another pipe? Just incase he comes back?"

April didn't let Casey get a new pipe.

Casey was not pouting about this. She has pride dammit.

The two of them walked cautiously, peering around corners and in alleyways. It was tense, but they were safe near each other.

As they neared April's place, Casey let out a sigh of relief she had been holding in.

"No Goo Guy here," she said.

"Maybe we got rid of him for good."

Casey laughed a bit at that. It was a kind of a nice feeling, to laugh like this with someone again.

She considered the other girl carefully before speaking.

"You know what, Red?"

"What Jones?" shot back April, but her voice was kind and in good humor.

"I think we just had our troll moment."

"This is going to make sense to me again. Isn't it?" asked April in plaintively tired tone.

"Always best to just give into the insanity, Red," said Casey with a sharp grin. "It makes life easier since the whole world is descending into chaos anyway."

"You were saying about a troll moment?"

"Right! A troll moment y'know like in the first _Harry Potter _book where Harry, Ron, and Hermione kick the troll's ass and become best friends after it. And it said there were some experiences that people couldn't walk away from and not be friends. I think that was one of them."

April blinked and considered Casey, who was looking off clearly embarrassed at being so sentimental.

The other girl also looked kind of…scared? Like she was thinking that April would laugh at her or something.

April wasn't going to laugh at her though. She missed it. Sure she and Irma from her Biology class were starting to be more than just acquaintances, but Casey had a point.

Some things you can't walk away from with a person (or people or mutant turtles) and not be friends (for however long it may last).

April looked down at Casey, "So I was thinking since the hockey team doesn't have practice tomorrow you and I could meet for Trig studying after last bell. Then maybe we could just hang out?"

Casey looked up both relieved that they weren't going to get all sentimental and a bit happy at the idea.

"Well that's a date then, Red."

"Who said it was a date, Jones? Even if I was interested in you in that way, you have to work for date status."

Casey's eyes fired up into her hair before she broke into delighted laughter.

"Course, Red. My apologies. I just see pretty people and flirt with them, natural reflex. Of course is there a chance?"

"I like boys, Casey," said April almost apologetically.

Casey shrugged, "S'cool. Red. I just like everyone. So Trig studying then hanging out? Sounds like fun. You can tell me about the what did ya call it? Your tessen?"

She smiled at April and turned to leave.

"Wait! Hold on!"

Casey turned around with an a raised eyebrow, "Yeah?"

"I need to give you my number," said April suddenly. Her heart in her throat as she watched the Turtles fight Goo Guy.

Even if she never wanted to speak to them again, she didn't want them to be found out.

(And seriously? She was with Casey. She hated that glass.)

She quickly programmed her number into Casey's phone. Out of the corner of her eye, April made sure to keep track of Goo Guy and the turtles fight as it would occasionally spill over from the alley.

"And by the way," she said trying to keep it cool. "You really shouldn't go down that alley. There have been weird fumes coming out of their for awhile. Don't want you to get sick from them after surviving Goo Guy."

Casey wrinkled her nose at the thought. Normally, she would have just shrugged it off. But after tonight? She just didn't feel like playing chicken.

"That's a good idea, Red. I don't want to be done in by fumes. That's just embarrassing after Goo Guy. I'll head back the other way."

"Thanks Casey. Have a good night."

Casey grinned. Those red lips pulled back to show off her missing canine, "You too, Red. Don't let the Goo Guys bite."

(For the record, goo guys (as Casey would later learn) did not bite. They were flash frozen in an alleyway before they could do any form of biting by mutated turtles.)

* * *

**A/N: **I hope everyone was decently in character. Yaaay writing for a new fandom leads to all these fun worries. The Turtles won't be appearing in a significant until the fourth part of the story. At least that's according to my timeline.


	3. Part Three

**A/N: **Title comes from the Pink song "Try", which I felt was apropos to the situation for April with the Turtles and Casey with her family issues. Casey's dad and sister come from the canon of the show. They were mentioned in passing and I ran with it. Linda is a character of my own creation.

Some of the dialogue and set-up comes from "Target: April O'Neil" (2x06) of the show because well I want to keep it close enough to the beginning before I go totally crazy with plot stuff.

As always this is unbeta'd because I do not have a beta. So I usually catch these things after I post and it's kind of annoying.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles _in any form.

* * *

**Part Three:** _Just Because It Burns, Doesn't Mean You're Gonna Die_

* * *

Casey Jones considered the scene in front of her.

It was sickeningly domestic. It was like every family sitcom she had grown up on. It was picturesque and perfect.

And somewhere that she felt like she didn't belong.

Linda, her Dad's long-term girlfriend, was cooking breakfast for them all. The air smelled heavily of fresh waffles with warmed maple syrup, fruit, and bacon.

Casey felt her stomach twist.

Maybe she should have crashed at April's last night. Her aunt was usually working this time in the morning. They would have had cold noodles over the sink and April would let Casey bitch the team's new right wing.

Ever since the whole incident with Goo Guy, she and April had bonded over it pretty quick. Chalk up another life lesson to good old J.K. Rowling, sometimes stuff happens and you can't walk away without friends because of it.

Casey is pretty sure that she has her first real actual girl friend, as in girl who is a friend, in her entire life.

She still hasn't introduced April to her family yet, but April seemed cool with hanging out or Casey crashing at her place for the night. April's aunt just looked relieved that April was having some company other than her own thoughts.

"Cassandra?"

Casey jolted back to herself. Her teeth instantly were on edge. She hated being called by her first name. She knew that Linda was probably just being nice, but Casey just got tired of correcting her.

Casey took a deep breath through her nose and squared her shoulders before walking into the kitchen/dining area of their place.

"Morning everyone."

Madeline, her younger sister, stopped texting one of her friend's to make an unintelligible grunt in her older sister's direction. She was a delicate boned, fair haired girl of about twelve or thirteen with a smattering of freckles to match Casey's own. Her long locks, about the same length of Casey's at that age, tumbled over her shoulders in loose, messy curls. She wore the same checked skirt and maroon cardigan for the Sisters of the Sacred Heart that Casey attended.

"Mornin' Case!" called her Dad cheerfully over the paper.

Arnold Casey Jones was a man of about six foot four with military cut and permanent stubble on his cheeks. Unlike his daughters' natural blonde, he had brown hair. Though they all shared the same brownish-hazel eyes. It was obvious that his frame was once filled with muscle, but time and the death of Casey's mother had seen to the loss of it. Losing his wife was the hardest thing that had happened to him. Arnold went from the burly boisterous man proud of his Welsh warrior ancestors to a strange creature that just spent all day in bed. Time, therapy, and Linda had helped heal some of the wounds. He was still a bit thinner then Casey would have liked to see, but Linda's cooking was fattening him up.

Casey took a seat at the table awkwardly; still horribly aware of how she was contrast to the scene.

"Good Morning, Cassandra," chirped Linda as she put a plate with a smiley face waffle down in front her. Casey tried very, very hard not to flinch.

She didn't know what Linda was waiting for, an invitation? Everyone called her Casey. Was it so hard for her to do it as well?

Linda Evans was a short, svelte woman of Chinese descent who worked as an architect who hired Casey's dad's demolition crew for a job. It wasn't love at first sight, but subsequent jobs together had brought the two closer. Linda looked pressed and perfect in her business attire as she easily walked around the kitchen in her towering heels. Her long dark hair carefully arranged in a sensible bun.

Casey stared at her waffle uncomprehendingly.

The waffle's blueberry eyes stared back at Casey in challenge.

Casey decided that she, who was made of pure awesome, was not going to be intimidated by a waffle. So she started demolishing it systematically.

"So what time did you get in last night, Case?"

Casey swallowed her mouthful of waffle, "About eleven? I was going to just crash at April's but I didn't have any stuff with me."

"Isn't that a little bit late to be out on a school night?" asked Linda, glancing over at Arnold. Casey tensed a bit at that.

It probably was a valid question. She still chafed at it though, not wanting this new person to dictate her own life.

Casey turned her attention back to the waffle. Except now it felt like she had no appetite for the half eaten breakfast item.

"I trust Casey. Her grades have been good. Besides April is her Trig tutor. They were probably studying," said Arnold simply.

"We were studying. April says I'm getting better at it."

It was true. April and Miss H both said that she was improving. She may never be a Trig master, but it seemed like her goal of getting a solid C in the class was well in her reach.

Apparently, it all was about fixing the foundations.

Her Dad looked pleased, which made Casey's heart warm a bit. She hated worrying her Dad. After last year, when she went off the rails, she put a lot of worry on his head.

Still, as she looked at the almost picturesque scene of Linda, Madeline, and her Dad. The warm feeling her chest didn't last long.

"Can I be excused? I need to head over to school. Mister Sanderson said that he wanted to talk to me about my latest design for shop class."

It was total bullshit. Sanderson was content on letting his best student do what she pleased, while he kept an eye on the dumbasses who may lose a finger.

"May I be excused," gently corrected Linda. Her dad gave the assent with a wave of his hand.

Casey stood, trying to not feel too bad at the relief flooding through her. She tugged Madeline's hair lightly, eliciting a glare and a gentle yelp from her, and kissed her Dad's cheek goodbye.

Casey was just about home free when Linda's voice stopped her.

"Before you leave Cassandra," she said with a smile. "I was thinking maybe you and I could spend some time together this weekend. Maybe do a little shopping together?"

Oh. _Frak._

Right in front of the family too, Casey had to answer and maybe in the affirmative.

"Sure, Linda. Maybe. I need to check it over with Coach first. Make sure I don't have any like weekend practices and junk. Later!"

Casey grabbed her bag and booked it out of the building. Once she was down the street, she finally breathed a bit easier.

Then she started kicking herself for being so freaking…bad at all of this.

Thing was Casey _liked_ Linda.

She did. She really did. She didn't like that the other woman called her by her first name. She didn't like that the other woman tried to parent her.

Casey didn't need a mother at this point in her life. She didn't. After her mom died, she had to parent herself and her sister. She had to make sure that her Dad wouldn't spend the day in bed, mourning for the love of his life.

And yeah her Dad was in therapy when he met Linda, but he got happier after meeting her as well. Linda was good for her Dad. Madeline loved the other woman as well. Linda was more into the habits of her sister: clothes, manicures, and all that stuff that Casey never really liked.

Plus, Linda had substance. She had started her architecture firm with her three best friends from college and now it was considered one of the best ones for "green" design in New York. Casey wholeheartedly loved the idea of Madeline spending time with a woman who did all that.

Her and Linda's relationship was just awkward from word one. Casey was old enough that she didn't need a maternal figure in her life. Linda was clearly trying what she did with Madeline on her, but it wasn't working.

Basically you had two stubborn women, used to taking care of others, and unsure of how to meet halfway. Casey just felt the awkwardness acutely between them.

She sighed and shook her head to banish the thoughts. Maybe after practice she can just do practice shots. It usually helped her get her mind in order, focus. This thing with Linda couldn't remain how it was for forever, but she didn't want to make the first move.

Coffee would help. She ducked inside her favorite corner coffee place and got a cup of French roast to go.

"Morning Casey!"

Casey jumped and spun around. April smirked at her with a raised brow.

"Jeez, Red! You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry," said April, not sounding particularly sorry. "You weren't paying attention. And I couldn't resist the opportunity."

"You are kind of twisted, Red. I like that in a person," said Casey as she accepted her travel cup of coffee and went about fixing it.

April wrinkled her nose before ordering a hot chocolate to go.

"I don't know how you can drink that stuff."

"When you're older, Red. You'll understand the sophisticated palate of a grown-up."

"You're one year older than me, Casey!"

"Only in body, Red, only in body," said Casey before taking a nice long drink of her coffee.

April rolled her eyes and accepted her own drink.

"Come on, Jones."

"You're bossy today, Red. It's kind of hot."

April cheeks colored ever so slightly. She gave Casey a dirty look. Casey just grinned unrepentantly. She loved teasing April through flirting. The other girl was definitely into guys, which was cool, and she didn't seem to mind Casey just being a big flirt, which was just fun.

"You're just a glutton for pain and punishment."

"S'why I play hockey," agreed Casey as they fell into comfortable steps with each other.

They walked together in a companionable silence for a few more moments.

"You alright? You looked a bit sad earlier."

"Just my own internal stuff, Red," said Casey with a shrug. "Nothing for you to worry about. I'm just kind of messed up, you know?"

April quietly huffed out a laugh. She smiled a bit sadly, "Yeah. Yeah I hear that, Jones."

Their walk was quieter after that. Both were a bit somber but still taking strength in the other's company. It was nice in a way, the quiet between them. Strange had they had grown to be pretty good friends so quickly.

But, it was still a good strange for both of them.

April O'Neil never meant to be a loner.

She was an awkward daughter of an awkward father and had a dead mother. When she was little, she related to Belle more than she would care to think about. Not that anything was wrong with Belle…but yeah there was still a lot of relating going on there.

She wasn't sure if she could still compare her life to _Beauty and the Beast_. She probably could have at one point. Her Dad is captured, but she didn't trade herself for him. April didn't like thinking of mutants as **_beasts_ **in general. It seemed demeaning to them.

She was just so angry with them, the Turtles. It was like everything that was wrong with her life was connected to them in someway now. She finally had one bit of normal, one bit of sanity with her father back. Now he was gone, flying the streets at night as a mutated man-bat.

April lashed out. Her words were whips. She couldn't hit Donatello. She couldn't fight him and win. She couldn't do anything except make him hurt like she was hurting. She never wanted to see any of them again. Ever.

_"Some things are just out of our control_."

It was such a load.

As she walked the streets, April couldn't feel that tell tale prickle on the back of her neck. She knew they were checking up on her. They had to be, but it was only rarely. Donatello must have taken the hint and left her to her own thoughts.

She sighed.

She never meant to become a loner.

But in school, she was awkward. She was more interested in books or science. She loved watching her father invent and experiment. Children, especially young children, are taught to fear the different things. They found her too strange, too odd for them to make sense of. So she was pushed aside for other pursuits.

She was friendly, but not enough to make friends.

Maybe that's why her first true and real friends were mutant turtles. They had their…what did Casey call it? They had their _Harry Potter _troll moment.

She felt angry and sad and angry at her sadness.

What made it worse, what made it so terrible to her that she _missed _those stupid, stubborn boys. She missed Leonardo's dorky charisma, Raphael's gruff affection, Donatello's witty kindness, and Michelangelo's goofy charm. She missed the training with Master Splinter as she learned to fight, to defend, to protect. She missed sitting with them in the lair, watching television curled up on the couch.

She missed them because they were hers. They were her family.

And she was angry that they had become so important to her, that her father, real and blood family, was gone because of them.

But they were there for her when she lost that connection last year. It hurt more because it wasn't the Kraang who got her dad; it was her friends.

April sighed, feeling so much older than she was. She looked up and saw the ice rink in front of her. Unintentionally, she had searched out her new friend.

She steadied herself and considered the door.

Her friendship with Casey was quick and easy. Fighting against Goo Guy was a bonding experience. Over the past few weeks, they had grown rather close for two intensely private people used to being alone.

They weren't spilled their darkest secrets or anything. But they had opened up about some things that were usually kept under wraps.

April worried her lower lip and made a decision.

She opened the door and walked inside.

The air temperature in the skating rink was it's usual low levels to keep the ice from melting. Yet Casey Jones felt extremely warm. Her muscles ached pleasantly under the weight of her equipment and she clutched her stick in her hands.

The sound of her skates on the ice was as familiar to her as a childhood lullaby. The steady rhythm of the puck near her stick was as calming as listening to running water.

She steadied herself and just let it rip.

_SLAP!_

The sound resonated through the air along with the sharp whistle of a puck moving fast to the net.

Casey smirked to herself. Before moving to the next one, she relished in the sound of her hockey stick making contact with the puck and sharp whistle as it sliced through the ice and air.

No matter what shitty thing was going on outside, everything always eventually made sense to her on the ice. It was just her, the puck, the net, and those in her way to the net.

She breathed in the cold air and kept her eyes shut.

Casey knew that she still had to give Linda an answer about the weekend. She did have practice this weekend and was still awkward about making that first step.

She knew what her mother would want her to do, but Casey couldn't bring herself to do it yet.

"Nice shot, Jones," said a familiar voice.

Casey looked over her shoulder and smiled. She was not surprise to see April O'Neil looking at her from the sidelines.

"Red! Hey," greeted Casey as she skated over. "Come to hang out with the infamous Casey Jones?"

"Always, Jones," said April with a smirk. "Unless you're only friends with me for my mad Trig skills."

Casey laughed.

"Never, Red, says skills like that un-ironically ever again. Hanging out with you watching my practice my shots then. Sound like fun?"

Did they have a session today? Casey was pretty sure that they didn't.

"Sure. Maybe grab some food if you haven't eaten yet. My treat?"

"Oh don't make promises like that, Red. After practices and extra training like this, I'll eat your allowance. You watch me."

"My allowance vacillates depending on how guilty my aunt feels about my Dad disappearing again."

Casey paused at that. She did not want to step on that potential minefield quite yet. So she changed the subject.

"So what's the deal, Red? You look kind of depressed," Casey said as April handed her a bottle of water.

"I just…ran into an old friend tonight," said April with a sigh. "I had four of them actually before we met. We don't talk anymore."

Casey felt a twinge of sympathy for the other girl at that. She leaned against her stick and finished off her water bottle in several long swallows, putting her glove back on.

"It happens," admitted Casey a bit sadly. "Back when I was at Eastman High, me and my bo…best friend, Nick, we were up against Troma Town during last year's playoffs. I was just about to make the game-winnin' shot. When Nick gets in too close behind me and well I hit hard with my shots. So I hit him pretty hard as well. He went down. We won the game. Nick ended up with a split lip and a minor concussion 'cause he hit his head on the way down."

Casey closed her eyes with a sigh. She was simplifying a very complicated relationship and its aftermath. The hit to a face was a catalyst to something much more dangerous.

"He was my best friend since freshman year; the first real friend that I had my whole life. He never spoke to me again after that."

She opened her eyes and looked at April. The other girl's eyes were soft and she touched Casey's glove gently.

"But it wasn't like you meant to hurt him, Casey."

Not at the time, she didn't. The real want to hurt him came a lot later though.

"No," Casey admitted after a moment. She wasn't ready to share that story just yet. "No I didn't mean it, Red. It just happened. Sometimes stuff is just out of our control, you know?"

A guilty look flashed across April's face. She looked down at her hands.

Casey took pity on the other girl.

"Gimme a sec to get out of this gear, freshen up a bit, reapply the lips, and then you and me can go grab a bite to eat, Red. Maybe some pizza?"

She was already on the way to the locker room when the shit hit the fan for April.

Oh today was just the worst.

Robotic ninjas were after here. Because, you know, REGULAR NINJAS WEREN'T ENOUGH!

April felt like this just was really, really, really unfair. She was keeping her distance, trying to remove herself from the equation. This weird stuff keeps following her.

Why did the Foot want her now? She wasn't even speaking to the guys!

She bent back to avoid to simultaneous strikes and made a risky move.

She jumped onto the ice and slid. It was only sheer willpower that was keeping her tessen in her hand.

A thrill of victory shot through April as she watched them slip and slide on the ice.

Now all she had to do was get away from…oh sewerbunnies.

And the robot Foot Soldiers were apparently adaptable to their environment/situation.

"SERIOUSLY?!" screeched April as she ready herself for an attack.

Right before one of the robot ninja Foot Soldier heads exploded in front of her. The body dropped to the ground, motionless. A shower of sparks, wires, and computer chips fell down around it like some sort of tech snow.

The other robot Foot Soldier and April stared at it's felled companion and then at the thing that took it down.

A hockey puck laid innocently a few inches away from the wreck.

If there's one thing Casey Jones knows, it's how to make an entrance.

Casey did hear a loud crashing sound on her way to the locker rooms. Paranoia left over from Goo Guy's attack told her to check it out.

Boy was her paranoia right.

April was being advanced on by two guys dressed it black.

So Casey did the only that made sense, she grabbed her stick and a couple of pucks. Then she quietly got onto the ice.

And then?

Well then she aimed at one of their heads and swung away with all of her strength. Because seriously? Screw those guys they were going to hurt her friend and she will bust skulls in to protect those important to her.

She wasn't expecting the creep's head to explode in a shower of sparks.

"Robots?" asked Casey dumbly.

"Robot ninjas," said April seriously. "Casey you need to get out of here."

"Red, I wasn't going to let you get taken by Goo Guy. And I'm sure as hell not going to let Robot Ninjas have you. Not unless some Vampire Pirates show up and have a duel to the death with them to settle the age old internet debate over which is cooler."

April looked like she was about to argue. But Casey was suddenly busy with the Robot Ninja coming after her.

"Alright then, big boy, it's you and me then."

Casey was off like a shot and the ninja was right behind her.

"Casey! You should really go!"

"And I'm telling you to go, Red!"

Casey turned to face her opponent; stopping so that spray of shaved ice temporarily blinded it. She then used that moment to tackle it to the ground.

The robot, however, was too strong and had her on her back faster then Casey would have cared to think about.

She was about to headbutt the damn thing, when it suddenly came down with a case of weird sickle weapon thing to the head.

It slumped over and April stood triumphant over it.

"Need a hand, Jones?"

"You," said Casey as she shoved the robot body off of her, "are hilarious, Red. You also have serious rink rage. I'm so proud."

April helped her to her feet.

"You should see my ping-pong game, Jones."

Casey laughed and looked at the two robot bodies.

"So anything you wanna tell me about, Red? Owe money to someone?"

"Um…"

What was sure to be a very interesting tale was cut off when several more of the robot ninjas showed up, ready to attack.

"Casey you should just go. I didn't mean to get you involved in this."

"Like hell I'm leaving now, April!" The use of her name instead of "Red" caught the other girl's attention. "We're going to beat these guys and make a run for it."

"Where?"

"I don't know. I have some acquaintances that could probably help get us out of the city or something if we do this right. But I'm not leavin' ya alone. Got it?"

April bit her lip before nodding, "Got it."

"Good," said Casey simply. She then smirked and adjusted the grip of her hockey stick, "Besides this is the only time in my life I may fight evil Robo-Ninjas. These guys are going down."

She got a skating start before jumping and throwing herself into the fray.

"GOONGALA!"

And then she punched an evil robot ninja in the face.

Her life has suddenly gotten both very weird and supremely awesome at the same time.

Of course, Casey admitted that her plan had holes in it. Mainly due to the fact that she jumped into a horde of ninja robots by herself armed with only a hockey stick.

Yeah, that was totally her fault.

She went low and tossed one of them off of her. Breaking free of the horde, she played the distraction game big time so April could do something.

Spinning suddenly, Casey kicked out her leg and maintained balance. Profoundly grateful for the four years of figure skating that her mother forced her to take in addition to her doing hockey. Landing from her spinning kick, Casey hit another one with her hockey stick, which did almost nothing.

They were all closing in on her.

And one just cut her stick in half.

Oh…this was bad.

At least being killed by robot ninjas were better then getting acidified by Goo Guy.

"HEY! OVER HERE! YOU WANT ME?! THEN YOU HAVE TO COME AND GET ME!"

"APRIL!"

April was already gone though making a run for the door. The ninja horde all moved to her as one.

It gave Casey enough breathing to skate off to grab the weird hand sickle thing from the ninja April had taken down and a replacement hockey stick.

She looked at the four who had stayed behind and smirked.

"Ooooh boys," sang Casey sweetly.

The ninja robots turned to look at her. She smiled as sweet as an angel.

"My name is Casey Jones. And for the next several minutes, you are all my bitches."

The robots exchanged a look before starting to advance on her.

One went down with a sickle thing to the face almost instantly.

Casey smirked before adjusting her grip on her hockey stick.

Then, she struck: fast and hard.

April O'Neil closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath.

Tonight? Tonight was just not her night.

Without thinking, she took out her T-phone and dialed a number.

"D…Don..Dauhg…" stammered the voice on the other line. If she wasn't about be kidnapped by Foot Soldiers, April would have cried until she laughed.

Maybe things were really just out of your control sometimes.

And maybe, she was just done being mad at the people she cared about.

"Donnie?! You know how things just get out of control sometimes? Yeah well stuff is really out of control right now! Please, please, please come and help!" she whispered furiously into the phone.

She ended the call and made a mad dash to the parking lot.

She could only hope that Casey was okay.

Casey was having the best night of her life.

And if the either therapist she had in her life had heard? It probably wouldn't be good news for Casey.

Right now, though? She was kind of enjoying making robot ninjas her bitch.

She slammed her skate down, glad that she had recently sharpened them. It decapitated the robot's head rather cleanly in her opinion. She turned and hit the head into one of the encroaching robot's head. They both exploded very slightly on impact, raining down sparks yet again.

She let out a laugh that sounded slightly psychotic to her own ears before slamming her skate down through the freshly decapitated robot's arm, which had become a mace thing.

Dismembered robot bodies littered the ice rink. Casey's current fight against the robots had been vicious as she had liberated weapons and attacked. Even if the robots adapted, Casey was just crazy enough that they didn't know her style.

It was a hell of thing.

She didn't have a style. She was a street fighter, a hockey player brawler, and okay she made it to blue belt in karate but that did not last long. Casey just fought brutally. She fought like her life depended on it.

Casey Jones fought to survive.

She gripped the mace and swung at her opponent, mid-level for the stomach area.

The disemboweled robot was clearly trying to protect its head, before Casey put a damper to the plan.

Picking up another hand held sickle, she brought in down on the head of the robot, slicing it in half.

She waited.

No whirring of machines.

No sounds of buzzsaws (and seriously? Ninja robots with buzzsaws?).

No movement that was heard except the sound of her own breathing.

She waited and waited and waited.

When, at least, fifteen minutes had pass. Casey stood and laughed.

It was a semi-hysterical laugh on someone who was hopped up on too much adrenaline. It was the sound of someone who had fought and fought hard to survive. She threw her head back and laughed like she had just heard the best joke in the world. It was wild and mad and broken from a girl who embodied those things.

She stood up and skated.

Maybe they were down, but she was going to bash in every head to make doubly certain that the robot ninjas STAYED down.

Casey picked up the mace, smirked to herself, and went to work.

Then, after that, she was going to get changed and go after Red.

April stood trying to catch her breath.

Karai was gone. All of the Foot Soldiers were dealt with thanks to Chrome Dome. Leo's hand was gentle around her waist, caring even. She felt like such a fool.

Of course they would always come for her. They would never truly leave her, even if she left them.

They were her friends, and they were better friends then she was.

All of them were looking at her with their own degrees of longing and happiness. They missed her.

And you know what?

She missed them too. She missed her brothers, her true brothers, more than she could say.

"Guys," she began, "there's something I should say to you."

Then, she remembered someone else she left behind.

"OHMYGOD! I FORGOT ABOUT CASEY!"

Then she was off, running to go check on her newest friend.

April ran into the ice rink just as Casey was smashing in the head of a decapitated Foot Bot with the dismembered mace arm of another Foot Bot.

"Casey!"

Casey turned and smiled, "Oh hey Red! I was just about to come looking for you!"

Her face was red from both lugging around her heavy gear in a combat situation and from actual combat. One of her legs was bleeding, though not heavily. She was probably bruised as well. There was a cut on her cheek.

Other than that, she was alive and perfectly cheerful.

"What are you doing?"

"Destroying the heads. You know, just in case, and then I was going to go look for you with Florence."

"Florence?" asked April tentatively.

Casey gestured to the mace in her hand, "Florence."

"You're kind of twisted, Jones," said April as she looked around at the decapitated and dismembered Foot Bots.

"Yep! Thanks for leading some of them off, Red. I'm glad you're okay."

"Bruised to high heaven, but yeah, I'm fine."

Casey smiled and smashed the last whole Foot Bot head remaining. She then skated over to April, who was trying to meet her halfway. Casey's arms on instinct reached out to grab her.

"Knew you could take care of yourself," Casey teased gently.

"Yeah kind of," said April awkwardly. "Um can we take a rain check on that pizza? I…I need to do something."

"Gonna go apologize to those friends of yours?" asked Casey as she climbed over the divider. Florence made the trip before Casey and was on the floor.

"Yeah. I owe them a big one," admitted April quietly.

Casey smiled and patted her arm gently, "Sometimes we need to swallow our own pride, pain, and hurt for the ones we love. Even when it sucks and even if you don't really know how."

April nodded quietly.

Casey bit her lip and then leaned down. April blinked in shock as Casey hugged her close.

She smelled like sweat, a bit of ozone from the explode bots, and the specific smell of sporting equipment. It was awkward and bulky, but genuine.

April hugged back, feeling tears pinprick at her eyes.

"You're a really good friend, Casey Jones."

"You're not so bad yourself, April O'Neil," said Casey with a smile on her red lips. To April eyes, they were a lighter shade then Karai's, a kinder shade of red.

"I need to go."

"No problem. I'm going to grab my shit, put on my shoes, find a payphone, call the police, and head home," said Casey simply. "You know so the owners of the rink can file insurance."

"I wonder what you put for act of robot ninja attacks," wondered April.

Casey laughed brightly at that, "Good luck with your friends, Red."

"Thanks, Jones," said April turning to leave. "I'll text you later?"

"Florence and I will be waiting," said Casey seriously as she picked up her prize.

April turned and made her way out to back where she left the guys. They needed to have a talk.

Casey and Linda needed to have a talk.

Let's just say that things become clear when you fight for your life while dismembering robot ninjas. Casey called 911 from a payphone that took forever to find, made up a story about seeing suspicious activity at the ice rink, and hung up before giving her information.

She climbed up the fire escape to her room and slipped in through the window.

Setting Florence down in her closet and just dropping her gear on the messy floor, Casey made her way out of her bedroom door.

Linda was at the kitchen table working on her computer. Casey had to wonder if she just secretly moved in and Dad hadn't gotten around to telling them yet.

She looked up as Casey entered, "Cassandra! Welcome home."

"Hey Linda," said Casey awkwardly. She bit her lip and spoke. "Look I…you don't need an invitation to call me Casey. Everyone calls me Casey. And if you and my Dad are gonna keep being you and my Dad, then seriously call me Casey."

Linda blinked in surprised, but then let out a blinding and warm smile.

"Alright, Casey."

Casey smiled back, "And I guess shopping this weekend wouldn't be too bad. I need to pick up some new lipstick and pads for hockey."

Linda nodded seriously with that big stupid grin on her face. "Sounds good to me."

Casey blushed and grabbed an apple.

"So yeah. Goodnight, Linda."

"Goodnight, Casey."

Casey smiled to herself as she went to back to her room.

Sometimes, in the end, you just needed to take the first step even if you were unused to doing it.

* * *

**A/N: **Is it weird that I have already made a playlist based on my version of Casey Jones? I feel like it's kind of weird.

Next up is Casey FINALLY meeting the Turtles.


	4. Part Four

**A/N: **The title for fic comes from P!nk's "Glitter in the Air" which is where the series gets its name as well.

The plot thread is loosely based on the episode. I've started diverging here a lot more, but some situations are similar to it.

Also, as always, this is unbeta'd so if there is a mistake then I promise I'll get around to fixing it. It's just me here folks.

**Disclaimer:**I don't own _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles _in any form.

* * *

**Part Four: **_Looked Fear In The Face And Said 'I Just Don't Care'_

* * *

Casey Jones never set out to become a vigilante.

Sure, she was fine with the fight against Goo Guy and those weird ninja robots that April never gave her a satisfactory explanation for, but going after criminals just because?

She was crazy. She wasn't stupid though, except when she was in school.

Still becoming a vigilante, there has to be a tipping point.

This was that tipping point for Casey Jones.

She sat in the police station with an arm around her sister, who was sobbing. Madeline's face was bruised and one of her knees was skinned. She was shaking like a leaf under Casey's arm.

Arnold Jones' face was full of fury as he stared down the police officer. Linda Evans was also wearing a thunderous expression.

"What do you mean that there's nothing more you can do?" growled out Arnold.

"Sir," said the police officer soothingly, "I know you're angry."

"Damn right I'm angry! My baby girl gets mugged and you're telling me that you can't go after the thugs who mugged her?!"

Casey tuned out the explanations and her Dad's yelling. She just focused on Madeline, who moved closer to her.

"I-I would've given them the money, Casey. I would have given them the wallet. But," she sniffled more. "That picture of Mom was in there, Casey. And I…I just…then they hit me and…"

Casey held her sister closer and made soothing noises.

It looked like no one was going to do anything about this. Casey could tell from her father's face.

Well then, it looks like Casey Jones would have to take matters into her own hands.

There is always a tipping point that will never change.

Casey didn't tell April what happened to Madeline. It wasn't because of a lack of trust. Scarily enough for Casey, she trusted April a good deal.

They still had both of their secrets though. Ever since she apologized to those mysterious friends of hers, April had been disappearing seemingly at random. Casey wouldn't begrudge the other girl her friendships but she still felt lonely sometimes.

So if she was keeping a secret from April, then that was her business. Besides this was about purpose and honor and all that shit.

Really, it was about the fact that in the nights following the attack Madeline would sneak into her bed at night. She had nightmares and refused to walk anywhere alone.

Her Dad and Linda weren't sitting on their asses either. In the wake of getting zero help for an arrest, they decided to focus on Madeline. Her Dad set up an appointment for a psychologist (a different one then his own) and Linda had signed them both up for a self-defense class.

Casey, meanwhile, comforted her sister at night. It was like after Mom died and Madeline couldn't sleep alone. When she showed up to Casey's room and climbed into bed next to her; Casey would grab her e-reader and read her sister _Harry Potter_ like their Mom did when either of them were sick. If that didn't work, then they would listen to gentle music and Casey would wrap her arms around her sister like she would keep out the world.

And once Madeline fell asleep, Casey would sneak out of her bed and work on her plan.

The materials were easy enough to come by. Even though her Dad worked in the demolition industry, he loved to build things. It was easy enough for Casey to liberate some nails for her purposes along with a hammer.

Her shopping trip with Linda, which wasn't as awkward as Casey feared it would be, also turned out to be perfectly time. In addition to a two rocking tubes of red lipstick, Linda also treated Casey to new hockey gear. So Casey still had old, reliable, and still pretty decent equipment ready for her to do with what she pleased.

She was planning on donating them to charity or something.

As she fixed the nails through the blocker glove, Casey decided that she'd just donate whatever cash she'll take from those bastard Purple Dragons instead to charity. It really wasn't like they were going to need the extra cash where they were going after all.

The hospital, she meant, she wasn't going to go kill anyone.

Maybe put them in a coma, but not kill.

Objectively, Casey could probably admit that this was the opposite of what she should be doing. After her breakdown last year, she was trying to get back on the straight and narrow.

No more clubbing. No more sneaking out or shoplifting. No more drinking. No more looking for fight clubs or anything like that.

At least Nick wasn't solely the cause of it; Casey can admit that she had been repressing a lot of stuff since her Mom died. Last year, it all just kind of came to a head and she just…snapped for a couple of months.

Failing all her classes and the transfer to Roosevelt was just what she needed to get her life back on track.

Of course, since meeting April, her eyes had been opened.

Goo guys and robot ninjas were one thing when they were after Casey. Madeline getting mugged by those thugs made the world suddenly crystal clear.

If she was going to get dragged into this stuff, then she was gonna do it on her own terms. This stuff may affect her family and other people's families as well.

(Casey had a sinking feeling that the weirdness that surrounded April had something to do with her Dad's disappearances.)

So she made the decision on her own terms that she was going to do something about.

Casey Jones was never meant for great things. She was never going to change the world.

But maybe, just maybe, those who she loved would be protected by her choices.

April was waiting for her outside of shop class.

Casey had spent the class testing a loading mechanism for a homemade taser. She needed the springs to fire just right. Not for the first time, she was glad that Sanderson left her to her own devices during class.

Her test rig was in her backpack along with some stuff liberated in order to make her custom skate-shoes.

She wasn't that smart, but Casey was good with her hands. She knew tools and she knew how to put stuff together, even if she didn't get the why and the how of it.

"Red," Casey greeted with a grin. "What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"It's a half day today. I was thinking that maybe you and I can go grab something to eat and just hang out for a bit? I have to meet the guys later, but I wanted to hang out with you first."

Casey smiled a bit at that, "Sure Red. Sounds like fun. I need to go pick up my sister from school before practice anyway."

"Is she alright?"

Casey paused. A part of her thought that she should tell April the truth, but that would inevitably lead to Casey telling her about her plans. The other part of her said that April had her own secrets that she wasn't telling Casey, despite Casey being involved in them previously.

"Oh yeah. Some snooty rich girls are giving her some trouble and I'm just going play slightly psychotic older sister."

She made a decision, but she wasn't sure if it was the right one.

April could tell that something was distracting Casey lately. She didn't need to be vaguely psychic to know that. Despite all of her bravado, the other girl did not hide her emotions as well as she believed.

Lately, Casey seemed off: almost somber and deep in thought. There was only other person that April knew who similarly went into these states. Leo usually took a pensive route when he was planning something important.

A sharp pang went through April at that thought. Before meeting Casey, it wasn't hard keeping her friends a secret. Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, and Master Splinter were a refuge from school. They were the best part of her day and, more than friends, they were her family.

Now, though, things are different. April met Casey, fought alongside of her, and was friends with the other girl in ways that she never was with other humans before.

It hurt keeping the secret now. She knew that Casey wanted answers. They were answers that April couldn't give to her.

The fact was that sooner or later, Casey was going to get caught in a fight that involved the Turtles. April could only hope that the fallout of it was manageable.

Keeping secrets was a heavy burden.

Casey considered the final touches to her gear with a careful eye. Vaguely, she wondered if this was how the girls who spent hours putting together an outfit felt.

"Something's missing," Casey muttered to herself. She tapped her fingers to her lips carefully.

Then it hit her as she looked at the hockey mask.

She smirked wickedly and whispered, "Goongala."

Then she turned in search for both the spray paint and the face paint left over from several years back.

The specially crafted hockey mask on the bed seemed to almost shine in approval.

Madeline Jones wasn't dumb. She was young. She was only thirteen after all, but she wasn't dumb. Especially in regards to her family, Madeline knew her family about as well as she knew herself.

She knew that her older sister was up to something. She knew Casey better then anyone in the world. Her big sister has always been there as a sharp-eyed protector and a quiet shadow.

It was comforting actually to know Casey would be there for her.

Casey even respected that Madeline didn't want her older sister hanging around all the time. Casey knew that she intimidated Madeline's friends and had respectfully kept her distance.

She still looked out for Madeline, though. Madeline knew that if she asked for help, Casey would give it to her in an instant.

Even last year, when Casey had just snapped for no good reason; her older sister was still checking in on her. Madeline couldn't grudge Casey a chance for her to finally feel her own pain, anger, and sorrow. Even though she wished it wasn't in such a destructive way, she heard Casey from her room stumbling back in from wherever she had been all night. Sometimes, the next morning as she walked past Madeline to take her shower Madeline would smell stale beer, cheap perfume, sweat, blood, or some combination there of.

Casey was back to herself, but even so, Madeline still knew her sister still had her issues.

She knew that Casey was up to something.

She knew that Casey was going to go after the Purple Dragons that mugged her to get back the picture of them and their mother she kept in her wallet back.

As she looked at the bruise on her cheek, Madeline found that she didn't care.

Casey was brutal when she fought. Those Purple Dragons weren't going to know what hit them.

Maybe Casey was just embracing that warrior blood their Dad talked about all the time.

As long as Casey came back victorious, Madeline would keep quiet on her suspicions.

Tonight, though, it looked like she was sleeping in her own room. Whatever Casey was planning, it was happening soon. If their Dad found out, then she always wanted plausible deniability.

Madeline was young, not dumb.

Besides, she would sleep easier knowing that Casey was taking care of the problem anyway.

It took Casey Jones a couple nights to track down the thugs that mugged her sister. She wasn't a detective or anything, but she did have one or two acquaintances from her downward spiral last year that were happy to point her in the right direction.

Apparently, Purple Dragons had their fingers in a decent amount of pies: most of them were unwelcomed.

It took a lot of late night walking and several throat catching jumps between rooftops for her to find a common base.

The operation that robbed her sister was relatively small, only about three guys in the branch. Casey saw a sizable pile of wallets on the table and, for her debut, made sure to bring a cheap shopping bag with her to drop off to the police.

The night of her debut, she hung out with April and had dinner with her family. She kissed her father on the cheek goodnight, hugged her sister, and gave Linda her warmest smile.

She then went into her room and, using her skills from previous years of sneaking out, made a rather decent dummy out of pillows and a wig.

No one has checked on her sleeping for months though. It was still a good idea to practice precaution.

Then Casey Jones did what any other ordinary teenage girl would when sneaking out of the house.

She made sure she was nice and ready for the evening ahead.

It promised to be a fun one.

Casey was all dressed up and had somewhere to go.

She was even getting better at this jumping between rooftops thing. Oh yeah, it was still terrifyingly heart stopping, but was actually starting to get kind of cool.

It almost felt like she was flying.

She was on her way to the warehouse that the sect of Purple Dragons that mugged her sister was using. The plan was simple. She was going to drop in and fight them with Electra (her homemade taser), Gretzky (her Eastman High goalie hockey stick), Jolene (her other hockey stick), and Cupcake (her baseball bat). Florence was sitting this one out in her room due to the fact that Casey wanted the Dragons in a hospital, not dead.

Lady Luck, however, felt like shaking things up that night.

It was cool. You had to be flexible sometimes.

Her three dates for the evening had cornered an older man below. The noise of the trashcan had caught her attention before she was about to jump between buildings.

This was actually pretty perfect. She could go down there, settled her business with them, and then raid the warehouse to find her sister's wallet.

She stood and jumped down to make her move.

The Dragons were distracted in their mugging. They didn't notice her land in the alleyway from the nearby fire escape. Casey smirked under her mask and kept to the shadows.

Gretzky was in her hand in an instant followed by a puck. She lined up her shot with the biggest guy of the lot and swung away.

The puck whistled through the air and struck hard, knocking the big thug over.

"What the…?!" said one.

They all turned around. Casey leaned forward. Her mask was firmly in place.

"So sorry to be tardy to the party gentleman," said Casey pitching her voice lower and huskier. "But I figure we can still play a game if you'd like."

"Nice outfit, kid," laughed the one holding the knife. "What are you supposed to be kid? Some kind of clown?"

Casey stepped forward a bit more. A perfect serenity born of rage and a desire to kick ass on her little sister's behalf settled in her veins.

"Not at all," she said with an almost purr to her tone. "I'm the last guy you're going to see before you wake up in the hospital."

Casey repositioned her grip on Gretzky and struck, brutal and fast.

Knife guy was on the ground first. Casey made sure to kick the knife under the dumpster. She then turned her attention to the biggest guy of the lot. She dodged his punch by ducking and hooked the heel of the stick around his arm. Planting her feet on the ground, Casey pulled bringing the other man down.

She brought up her padded knee and heard a rather satisfying crunch from his nose. Letting him free to the ground, dazed and bleeding heavily from the nose, she focused her attention on the last guy.

He went for a kick the head. Casey jumped back and dodged a punch as well. She then lifted off and flipped into the air, landing nimbly behind the trashcan.

"Choke on it!" yelled Casey as she solidly kicked the trashcan. It caught the third man in the middle and sent him falling to the ground in a heap.

She cracked her neck at that.

"I," she announced with a slight psychotic glee to her voice, "am going to really enjoy this."

She spun Gretzky in her hand, repositioned her grip, and brought it down on knife guy.

She didn't even know that she was being watched from above, until intervention arrived.

Raphael knew that he was probably the last person to talk about someone being out of control. His less than solid hold on his own temper probably proved that.

Still though, he couldn't help but wonder about the timing of everything. Here he was trying to cool down after letting his temper get the better of him (again) and hurting Leo; now there's a guy down there kicking the crap out of the Purple Dragons while their down.

Now Raph doesn't like those guys at all. But still, they're down and not hurting anything.

His sais were sure in his hands as he spun them once. They almost seemed to sing in his hands. The clear sound of the metal was actually almost beautiful in its own way.

Raph took a breath and focused.

Then he jumped down to join the fray.

Fong was up and running to the street. The masked guy lined up a shot and swung. The puck whistled through the air and hit Fong in the back sending him to the ground hard.

"Did I say you could leave?" spoke the masked guy in a rough, low voice.

"C-C'mon man," stammered Sid through a profusely bleeding nose.

"Yeah. We give up!" said Tsoi nervously with his hands up.

The masked guy turned around and chuckled. "What 'cause I'm not a little girl or an old man? C'mon lawbreakers I ain't done with you yet."

He, and Raph was certain that it was a guy, raised his hockey stick to strike again. In a flash, Raph acted by grabbing it from his hands.

Someone took Gretzky.

One second, Gretzky was in her hands and the next moment gone.

Casey tried to look over her shoulder, but someone had pushed off her back, allowing whomever it was to leap back and push her forward. She recovered and reached for Cupcake from her bag of tricks.

Brandishing the bat, she called out. "Who's there? C'mon now show yourself!"

She could see the barest glint of metal from the shadows. She could see a pair of eyes watching her intently.

Slowly, very slowly, a humanoid figure emerged and stepped into the light.

Casey's eyebrows went up under her mask.

It was…a turtle.

The turtle was shorter than her (not hard she's been taller than most people for years) and solidly built. This turtle person was definitely pure muscle. The turtle's hands and feet were wrapped like a fighter and there were pads on his knees and elbows. A red mask was wrapped around the eyes and a pair of sais glinted from the turtle's hands.

Casey let out an exasperated laugh. She couldn't help it. Geez she was just hoping to beat up some stupid thugs and she caught the attention of a mutant.

"Another mutant?"

"Got a problem with that?!" challenged the mutant turtle. The voice revealing that he was male. His bright, inhumanly green eyes were staring her down.

He sounded young, like her age young.

Casey gripped Cupcake a bit tighter and took him in again.

"A…turtle ninja," she laughed to herself.

First, there was Goo Guy. Then, there were robot ninjas.

Now there was a ninja turtle in front of her.

The world had clearly gone insane and Casey had no idea about it. It was just a situation to laugh at.

The turtle growled and Casey was just about to address that, when the Purple Dragons ran past (or what could be called running due to a bleeding nose).

Oh hell no.

Ninja turtles later, first she was going to finish what she started with the Purple Dragons.

"Oh no you don't," she growled as she griped her bat.

"Let me handle this," said the turtle putting a hand on her.

Casey pushed him back without even thinking about it. She wanted to introduce those creeps to Cupcake. She wasn't sure which one smacked her sister, so all of them were going to get a broken arm.

"You know," the turtle began, "anger is a very dangerous ally."

He grabbed Casey and pushed her back hard.

"Why don't you cool off for awhile, kid?"

"Kid? Look who's talking!" challenged Casey. Who was he to tell her to cool off? He probably didn't have siblings to think about. He didn't have people that probably needed protecting.

People that he failed to protect.

She failed Madeline. She could at least do this.

"You know," growled Casey as she pulled Jolene out from her bag of tricks. "I'm getting reeeeaaal sick of your mug, buddy. So let's handle this properly."

She fixed her grips on Cupcake and Jolene before running forward with a yell.

"GOONGALA!"

Even through his rapidly lost patience with the masked guy, Raph could appreciate a good fighter when he saw one. Two weapons in hand, both of different weights, and the guy was swinging them almost expertly.

He was a bit sloppy, but there was also a great deal of control.

Raph captured both the hockey stick and the baseball bat in the spaces of his sais.

"Look I know I'm not Mister Personality, but you really just need to chill out!"

"Chill out?! I wasn't going to kill them!" stated the masked guy fiercely. He twisted and was able to free his weapons from the sais hold.

Raph fixed his grip and went in for a punch, which was dodged.

"Then what were you going to do?" Raph challenged the masked guy, grazing the guy's arm with a punch.

"Break one of their arms!"

"Oh because that's so much healthier!" shouted Raph as he flipped back from a high kick.

"Never said it was healthy!" said the guy going in for another punch.

Raph saw an opening and kicked him in the middle, sending his opponent flying into a dumpster.

"Heh."

It actually wasn't that bad of a fight. But see, he was just awesome like that. Raph spun his sais like they were pistols in an old Western movie before placing them in their holsters.

Then, like a demented jack in the box (one washed down the sewer years and years ago and gave Mikey a lot of nightmares), the masked guy was up and looking around.

Raphael's eyes went wide with shock. Damn could this mysterious masked man take a pounding and still come up for more.

Realizing the Purple Dragons were gone, his breathing changed. Raph knew that type of breathing very well.

It was the breathing of someone well and truly mad as all hell.

"THEY GOT AWAY!" yelled the masked guy. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LET THEM GET AWAY!"

Raphael shifted his stance, ready for round two of their fight.

"I'm gonna kick your ass!" growled the masked guy. He jumped out of the dumpster and swung the hockey stick knocking Raph off his feet. He rolled out of the way just as the bat was brought down.

The guy caught Raph around the knees with his stick and pulled them out from under him again. With a controlled fall, Raphael rolled out of the way and jumped up onto the fire escape.

Steadying himself, he threw out two shuriken. They were blocked by the masked guy's thick boxyish glove with the nails sticking out.

The guy's voice was still angry.

"Okay throwing stars are as cool as all hell, but this is still a fight!"

Raph dropped down from the fire escape and smirked.

"If you thought they were cool, then let me show you my sai."

"Only if you want to meet Jolene and Cupcake," said his opponent darkly. The bat and hockey clacked together in a defensive challenge.

"I bet those are the only girls you ever get."

"More than you."

Then they jumped at each other with howl.

If Casey weren't so totally pissed off right now, then she would really be enjoying this fight.

The turtle had some awesome moves.

Right now though, she was seeing red and it wasn't just the turtle's mask.

Those creep Purple Dragons had escaped. Now who knows if they're gonna clean up shop?! A lot of time and effort were lost because some mutant wanted to play police or something.

Casey's thoughts right now were that if she couldn't break a Purple Dragon's arm, then the turtle's arm would be just as good.

Except, unlike the Dragons, he was an exceptionally better fighter then them. Lucky for Casey, she wasn't a slouch in the ass-kicking department either.

Of course, neither of them was actually hitting the other at the moment.

Finally the turtle pushed her back with a solid kick; Casey saw her chance in that moment.

She felt her muscles coil and loosen as she jumped forward hitting the guy in the stomach with Jolene. Barely dodging from a punch, Casey turned and hit him over the head with Cupcake.

"Since I can't break the Purple Dragons' arms," whispered Casey furiously, "how about I break one of yours?"

"Not happening!" said the turtle, before kicking him feet up and getting Casey in the jaw.

The girl flew back in the air several feet. Her ears were ringing but she shook it up. The turtle stood and made its way over to her.

"Had enough?"

"Had worst in rink fights," said Casey as her vision stabilized.

"Let's see if we can't fix that," said the turtle striking.

Casey grabbed Cupcake and Jolene and blocked the attack.

The turtle, however, kept coming furiously with his attacks. Casey was on the defensive. Her back was pressed against the car, which let off the extremely sensitive car alarm buying her needed time for the next part of her plan.

She raised her leg and kicked out hard. The turtle stumbling back a few inches and allowing Casey to jump on the car.

Okay then, this next part was happening. The turtle was right behind her and she hoped like hell that she rigged this right.

Jumping off of the car, Casey pressed down her toes hard on the inner mechanism inside her shoes.

Much to her relief, she landed on the blades of skates (roller blades but either way it counts). She glided back and felt a new wind overtake her.

"Let's do this, big boy."

The turtle let out an inarticulate grunt of rage and came after her.

Raphael was pissed.

The masked guy just wouldn't STAY DOWN! Now he was mocking him?! SERIOUSLY?!

And what made it worse was the skates. The guy was faster on them then Raph would care to think about.

Every attempt at a hit was dodged. Every time he got close, the guy moved out of reach. It was surprisingly graceful.

And it was enraging him even further.

"AHHH!" he roared and tackled the guy onto a car.

Straddling him, Raph spun his sigh and brought it down toward the guy's face.

Wait. Wait.

What the hell was he doing? Was he seriously going to kill someone for pissing him off?

Looking down into the guy's brown eyes, Raph came back to himself.

"What am I doing?" he questioned angrily.

Maybe his anger issues were worse then he thought. Unbidden, a flash of Slash flew across his mind.

God was he really becoming him?

Raph got off the guy and glared at him.

"Just…Just go home, kid. You don't know what you're dealing with."

Apparently fear from almost getting a sai to the face was still strong in him. Next thing Raph knew he was being tazed by a potato masher and was on the ground.

After rolling out of the way of cab, still feeling a bit twitchy from the voltage, Raph looked over at the car where the guy was.

But he was gone.

Okay as a ninja, Raph could admit someone with no ninja training disappearing like that was pretty impressive.

Still, just to be sure, he yelled out.

"Yeah! You better run!"

Casey Jones closed her locker at school and leaned against it.

She was feeling last night, but thankfully years of putting her body to its limits (and passed them) was actually working out in her favor. She was sore, a bit bruised, a bit angry, and had a cut on her nose, but at least her body didn't hate her today.

It was feeling an intense dislike toward Casey, but not hate.

She ended up going home after the bout with the turtle ninja. Maybe tonight she could check on the warehouse and see if the Purple Dragons were still there.

She could still go through her original plan. Maybe through a paint bomb down there and bring a metal pipe to help with the arm breaking.

Casey shifted to grab a textbook, her body protested at it. She winced. Okay maybe she should wait a few more nights before going back to see if the Purple Dragons are still there.

"Casey?!"

Casey cracked open an eye and gave a half-hearted smile.

"Hey Red."

"What happened to you?!" demanded April worriedly.

Shit. Okay Casey can do this. She made sure to leave really early this morning and leave a note saying that she wanted to get in some practice before class. When she came home tonight she could say that the stiffness was from that and the nose cut was from a fall.

She can figure out a story for April.

"I got into a fight with a street harasser."

It was plausible. April has seen Casey challenge street harassers to fights before.

April sighed, "What am I going to do with you, Casey?"

"I have some ideas," muttered April's friend, Irma. Casey had a feeling that Irma didn't like her too much.

She wanted to stick out her tongue at the bespectacled girl, but didn't. Instead, she smirked and leaned back.

"You shoulda seen the other guy, Red."

Casey sincerely hoped that turtle ninja was feeling it today.

"Yeah yeah I know Casey," said April with soft concerned eyes.

Casey's heart twisted and she reached out. Squeezing April's shoulder gently, she smiled.

"I'm sorry, Red. You don't gotta worry about me like this."

"Someone has to Casey Jones. Now come on, let's head to lunch."

Casey smiled, some of her pained muscles loosening up at the thought of spending time with her friend.

"Yeah Red. Sounds like fun. Riiiiiight Irma?"

Irma raised an eyebrow and made a 'hmph' noise. Casey chuckled to herself and fell into step with the other two girls.

"So how did you do on the Trig exam, Casey?" asked April as they all walked together.

"C-plus! Thanks for all the help, Red."

April grinned delightedly and punched her lightly on the arm.

"Hey! That's great, Jones."

Casey grinned at the other girl and winked.

Tonight, she was definitely going to go with the face paint. Just in case she ran into turtle ninja again.

Sometimes Raphael wished he had a better way with words.

He wanted to…connect more? Show them that he did care about them. That they weren't the cause of his anger, but that it was something different instead.

It was frustrating, putting feelings into words that he didn't have.

He loved his brothers. But they knew how to push his buttons in exactly the wrong way.

He used to have Spike for this, a safe haven to vent his frustrations.

But then…then Slash happened and Raph's stomach is still somewhere near the floor with guilty for that incident. He has seen the destructive power of anger, the real and true negative impact on someone that he cared for.

He did care for Spike. Slash was a twisted version of Raph's own hurt and anger embodied in who he trusted to keep his feelings for him.

Raph grunted as he punched at the air yet again. Instead of punching them, he was going punch something that wouldn't punch back. He needed to find a real way to vent, to calm down, and to not be controlled by his anger.

He grunted and punched the air again. Until he found that outlet, then this was going to be the best he had to do.

Casey didn't go out for the last couple of nights. Her body was still protesting from extra practices and the fight with turtle ninja.

She was also scared to go and check out the Purple Dragons warehouse, unsure if they are still operating there. Casey didn't want to go and confirm that it was empty, to see that she had failed her sister in getting their mother's picture back.

So right now, she was hanging out on a fire escape and trying to work up the courage to go and see.

She had to admit, with a couple days of breathing room, that she probably could have treated the turtle ninja a little bit kinder.

Casey was never really good at expressing herself emotionally. Usually, she either did it through mixes, writing, or some other medium where she didn't have to speak out loud about her feelings.

She groaned and buried her face in her hands.

God some days she wished she still had her fake ID so she could go and drink.

Opening her eyes, Casey looked up at the moon. It was the only thing that you could see really clear in the city.

When she got her own driver's license, she wants to go out somewhere with a really nice view. She hasn't really left the city much her whole life. She would love to go somewhere she could really see the stars.

Thoughts of stars flew out of her head when a flash of movement from a building across the way caught her eye.

Brow furrowed, Casey pulled out her binoculars and focused in.

"Hello turtle ninja," she whispered to herself.

Even though she admitted that she could have been a bit kinder to him, he still nearly put a sai through her eye socket.

Sue her for waiting just a smidge of payback.

Casey was up in an instant and jumping off the escape, unaware that she was being pursued herself.

"_Yame!_" called Mister Splinter as April finished her last kata. She immediately went into a seated position and bowed deeply.

"You have been keeping up with your practice well, April."

"Thank you, Sensei," said April sincerely. "I didn't want to stop because I was mad. So I practiced at home."

"Well you have been progressing admirably, April. I am very impressed," said Splinter.

April smiled at the compliment, bright and wide.

"I think that we are done with your training for tonight, April." Splinter smiled kindly at her, "Now how about you go and join my sons?"

"Thank you, sensei!" exclaimed April, bowing again for politeness sake, and leaving the room happily.

She vaulted over the couch and sat next to Mikey.

"Hey Apriiiilll!" he sang as her offered her his popcorn.

April took a couple of kernels and sat back.

"Where's Raph?" she asked, realizing they were short one ninja.

"Aw he went to go blow off some steam," said Donnie with a dismissive wave of his hand. "He'll come back when he's cooled off."

Almost as if on cue, Raph walked in. His expression slightly less than thunderous meant that the turtle was at least calmer than earlier.

"Oh hey Raph!" called Mikey bright and happy. "You've come just at the best part. The bad guy has totally invaded the Secret Mecha Force HQ! Come and watch us dude!"

Raph snorted, "Your guys brains are gonna rot from it. I mean Donnie can spare it, but not Mikey."

"Hey!" both of the offended turtles called out.

April and Leo both tried to hide their snorts.

"FOUND YOU!" shouted a triumphant voice, a _familiar_ triumphant voice.

"Casey?!" yelped April as she stood up. Immediately curtailing any intervention from the team, as they just looked at her in askance.

Oh what the actual hell was Casey wearing?

"Red?" asked Casey in confusion, putting down her hockey stick.

Red was here? When did she get here? Was she kidnapped? She did not look kidnapped.

And there were more turtles, in different color masks, but of course there was.

They were also watching TV. It looked like a really poorly done dubbed anime.

See? This is why she watches her anime in Japanese. Now, however, was not the time to bring it up.

"Wait," said Casey slowly as it hit her. "THESE are your mysterious friends?"

"Ummm…" said April with a sheepish grin on her face.

Well, that answered Casey's questioned. April was friends with mutant ninja turtles. Casey was just going to put that whole scene on pause for a second and go to the real reason why she trekked down the sewers first.

You need to prioritize the weird stuff in your life.

"Where did you come from?" demanded her turtle, the red masked one with the sais.

"I saw you and followed you."

"Why?! You want round two?!"

"No! Well I…kind of," said Casey awkwardly, "I was going to do..uh…"

She fidgeted slightly and then muttered quickly, "I was going to apologize to you for being kind of an ass. Then I was going to punch you in the face for nearly stabbing me in the face with your sai. Then I was going to apologize again."

"Do you humans apologize like that?" Casey heard one of the other turtles asked.

"Only the very stupid and emotionally stunted ones," replied April. Casey honestly wasn't sure if she deserved that one.

The red masked one opened his mouth to say something, but his words were cut off.

Mainly because he was staring at the army of robot ninjas.

"The Foot!"

"The who?" asked Casey.

"The robot ninjas from the ice hockey rink!" explained April quickly as she opened her fan. "They must have followed you."

Well Casey suddenly felt very much like crap. This was not how she wanted to meet April's mysterious friends.

Or you know punch out/apologize to Sai Guy.

Casey winced and looked at the Foot robots.

"You were going to attack me originally for decapitating and dismembering your buddies, aren't you?"

As one, the Foot robots nodded.

"Yeah. This is definitely not my week," murmured Casey to herself. She reached back and grabbed Cupcake.

A door opened and a deep male voice demanded, "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"

At the same time, Casey was using Cupcake to knock the closest Foot robot's head clean off.

She may have led them here, but she was going to be damned if they hurt April or April's weird friends. She was going to do something good in her life, and not be a major screw-up.

Casey spun and slammed the bat down on the decapitated head for good measure. Sai Guy had clearly joined in the fray, and from the sounds behind her so did the others.

"One is getting away!" shouted one of the new voices.

Casey felt her eyes narrow and she ground out, "No it's not!"

With a running start, Casey jumped over the turnstile and landed on her skates. She took off down the tunnel.

"I'm with ya!" called Sai Guy, following her moments later.

Casey kept her eyes on the spider-like robot.

Well tonight got super weird, decided Raphael as he ran down the sewers next to the skating masked guy (Casey apparently). His suddenly new ally, and apparently friend of April's (was this the boyfriend Donnie was going on about?), kept pace and didn't even notice that he had company in Raph.

"So what's the plan?" asked Casey.

"It doesn't leave the subway tunnels in one piece," said Raph simply.

"Oh. I like that plan. It's one that has all of my best skills."

Raphael chuckled darkly at that, "You know? My skills are very similar as well."

The Foot Bot turned and threw out shuriken, which both of them dodged.

Raph took out his throwing stars and let them fly. He caught an arm, but not enough to damage it severely.

Growling, he and Casey took off deeper into the subway tunnels for the Foot Bot.

Where they immediately ran into more Foot Bots.

"I can't tell the one we want from the others!"

"Wait!" shouted Casey who had a visual on the Foot Bot. "I got it!"

He took out a canister of spray paint, shook it, and threw it at the Foot Bot with their location. It exploded in bright blue all over the bot.

"If that thing gets back to Karai and gives away my family's location," growled Raphael as he took down two Foot Bots. "You're answering to Splinter!"

"Who?" asked Casey as he swung the bat at Bots head, knocking it clean off. Turning around, he let loose the taser he used on Raph a few nights back, overloading another one. He also hit it in the head for good measure.

"My father!"

"That's fair," agreed Casey, "but it's not getting out of here in one piece. I won't let it hurt your family."

He then used the baseball pat to hit a thrown into the air hockey puck at another Foot Bot's head, which ripped through it easily.

Raph stabbed and knocked three more out of commission, "Why?! You barely know us?"

"You're Red's friends. I wanted to help protect her and my family. You think I wanted to do this for funsies?" asked Casey, as he ripped off a mace attachment from one of the down Foot Bots and used it to disembowel an incoming one.

"You seemed crazy enough to do it!" shouted Raph as he finished off the last of his Bots before taking off down the tunnel.

"Hey!" called Casey, who didn't argue the point.

The two of them had other problems to deal with at the moment.

Their Foot Bot was in sight as they moved down the tunnel. Casey trigged those skates of his and was on the rail in an instant, gliding after the Bot.

"Come on, Sai Guy! Hustle!"

Raphael didn't bother to correct him at this particular moment in time.

Both of them were so absorbed in their chase that they didn't notice that they Earth had started to move under their feet.

Casey saw the train coming before Sai Guy did.

She spared a glance at the Bot, but in the end there was no decision to be made. She flung herself at Sai Guy and they tumbled onto the ground together just as the subway cars sped past.

Sai Guy's bright green eyes were wide.

Casey turned to him in concern, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," said Sai Guy awkwardly. He rubbed his arm and swallowed, "Thanks. And you apology accepted. I'm sorry too."

"Awesome."

"There he is!" shouted Sai Guy suddenly and Casey saw the bright blue of the paint. Both her and Sai Guy looked at each other before going to catch that train.

Raph steadied himself on the car carefully. Casey's presence suddenly much more of a comfort then it had been previously.

Despite previous tensions, he knew Casey had his back and he had Casey's.

After all, not many people would risk their life to say a total strange that they were fighting with a few nights previously.

The Foot Bot turned at their approach and fanned out, almost gliding on the air to fight them.

"Oh," said Casey next to him, "That's kind of badass, but I am really go to enjoy this."

"Same here," agreed Raphael as he spun his sais.

The two of them fought, one taking the front while the other covered the back. There was just not that much room on top of a subway car. Casey was brutal, having traded the bat for the goalie hockey stick. Clearly this was his favored weapon, an odd one but one that was effective.

Raphael had some more finesse then Casey did, dodging lightly on his feet. They weren't able to land a finishing blow yet on the Bot.

Then he saw Casey go down from the corner of his eye. In an instant his rope was out and around Casey's waist as he pulled him back up on the car.

"Thanks," panted Casey taking in a deep breath of air, clearly trying not to freak out.

"Consider us even," said Raph as he turned his attentions back to the Foot Bot.

The Foot Bot jumped off at an empty subway station with Raph and Casey hot on its tail.

Casey was really, really wishing that she had brought Florence with her tonight. Sai Guy could probably throw the mace and break the damn robot's face.

Instead Casey pulled out Cupcake to join Gretzky as she followed the Bot carefully. She swung but it kept on dodging at the last minute, to her ever increasing frustration.

"He's gonna go for the street!" she yelled at Raph.

"I gotta an idea!" he called looking at her blocking glove. She followed his gaze and knew.

Popping up her skates, she started to gain momentum. When she met the running Sai Guy, he grabbed her and threw her after the Bot.

Springing out her taser, she caught the thing in the face frying it rather nice before going into a controlled roll to the ground.

Casey popped up like a demented Energizer Bunny and took out Cupcake.

"Shall you do the honors or should I?"

"Allow me," said Sai Guy taking out his sais and spinning them. With an effortless and deadly grace, he brought down one into the head of the robot, effectively making sure it was dead.

The two of them stood there, in the subway entrance, shaking from adrenaline and looking at each other for several minutes.

Casey pulled up her mask and grinned at Sai Guy.

Casey was wearing facepaint, Raph noted as he got his first good look at Casey's face. Clearly Casey was invoking skull imagery by the majorly white face with black eyes and various lines. His lips were painted red, which was weird but whatever. He also had streaks of red under his black painted eyes as well.

"Nice face."

"Yeah well," said Casey with a grin. "Had to make sure I looked good beating up crime."

Raph snorted at that.

Casey grinned at him unrepentantly.

"Thanks Sai Guy."

"Actually the name is Raphael, Raphael Hamato," he paused awkwardly. "Everyone calls me Raph though."

"Casey Jones, everyone calls me Supreme Commander of Awesome."

"No they don't."

"They will one day," said Casey cheerfully as he bent over the body of the Foot Bot. "What do we with this guy?"

"Throw it in front of a train?"

Casey shrugged and grinned, "Works for me. Let's do it, Raph."

Huh. Maybe he wasn't so bad at this friend thing after all. You just needed to find common interests.

Casey's adrenaline was wearing off by the time she and Raph had gotten back to the Lair (as Raph had called it). Her body was definitely going to hate her in the morning, but she had a feeling her night wasn't over.

As Raphael said to her as they prepared to throw the Foot Bot's, "Yeah everyone is going to want to make sure that this won't happen again. But since April and I will vouch for you I'm pretty sure this will be cool."

Somewhere over the course of the night, she was pretty sure that she and Raph had their own Troll Moment of Friendship.

Right now she was leaning against him heavily because her whole body hurt, Raph promised that before the interrogation she could wash her face and his brother could check out her injuries.

Both of which sounded like good ideas to Casey.

"Casey!" called April in utter relief, "Raph! Both of you are okay!"

"Course," said Casey with a smirk, "Me and Raphy-Boy totally destroyed that Foot Bot."

She then sobered as she looked around the room. (And hello giant rat man when did you get here? Oh…wait that must be Raph's dad.)

"I am so sorry for leading them here, however unintentionally. I really just wanted to talk with Raphael and apologize and then punch him."

Raph snorted next to her.

"Anyway I'm sorry. And I trust Red so if she trusts then you know I trust you guys too. And I know I haven't done anything to earn your trust but…"

"You have protected our home without even knowing us," said the rat (Splinter?) with a wise deep slightly accented voice. "I believe that owns some level of trust around here."

Casey smiled a bit.

"Raphael said that I could wash my face and get my injuries looked at before we have a chat?"

"I believe that is the best course of action," agreed the rat man. "After that we will have to have talk."

"Understandable," agreed Casey weakly. "Red you got some face wash I could borrow?"

"Lucky for you, I was sleeping over tonight anyway," said April as she went to go help Casey limp to the bathroom. "Come on Jones let's get you presentable."

"Can't take me anywhere right Red?"

"Nowhere at all, Jones."

After Casey and April had left the room, a furious whispering had exploded between the brothers.

"That's April's boyfriend?!" whispered Donnie furiously. "I can't believe it!"

"Are you really sure he's her boyfriend?" asked Leo. "He and she could just be good friends."

"He seems awesome," said Mikey happily. "How was he out there, Raph?"

"Pretty damn good for someone with no training. And I like him. Jones saved my life out there tonight. He's good people."

Donnie gave Raph a dark look but ground his teeth together. He couldn't **not** treat Casey.

"I'll go grab the first aid kit," grumbled Donatello as he disappeared into his slightly destroyed lab for the necessary supplies.

"What do you think Sensei?" Mikey's voice questioned from outside the opened door.

"I trust April and Raphael's judgments. But I find myself agreeing. He did not have to help us, but he did so anyway."

Donnie slammed his first aid kit a little rougher then usual. Of course some regular human boy had to come in and sweep April off her feet. Of course he had to have that bad boy charm and be a good a fighter.

He was definitely not going to end up with April now.

April came out a few minutes later, "Sorry about that guys. Casey was having some problem getting clothes off."

Of _course_ he did, thought Donatello darkly.

The man of the hour walked out seconds later.

He was Donatello's height, maybe an inch or two taller. His short messy black hair stuck up every which way and was slightly damp like he stuck it under the tap. There was an impressive array of bruises both new and old on his body. Donatello would have to be careful in his examination.

Was that a tattoo on his left shoulder? It looked like a rose in…

Donatello stared. His brain suddenly stopped short.

The whole place had suddenly become absolutely quiet.

"Casey why are you wearing a sports bra?" asked Raph in a quiet voice.

Casey gave him a confused look.

"So I didn't flash my boobs at you, Raph."

"Found it!" called April who held up a lipstick tube triumphantly from Casey's weapons bag. She handed it over to Casey, who took it and applied it to her lips.

Once finished, Casey turned to look at the gaping men.

"What did you think I was a boy or something?" asked the definitely female Casey Jones.

"YOU'RE A GIRL?!" shouted Mikey back dumbly.

Casey sighed, "Well this talk just got longer, didn't it?"

April just started laughing hysterically.

* * *

**A/N: **I've been really inspired by this idea lately. This things are just popping out of me. I wrote this all out today (or well all Saturday). Go. Me.

Anyway next fic will be people sitting around and talking because I need a break from action writing hahaha. It's not my strong suit. So I'm sorry if the fights are dull.


	5. Part Five

**A/N: **Title comes from P!nk's "Trouble".

Now we start getting into the canon divergence stuff. Mainly I get to play with Casey developing relationships with everybody! It mainly comes from the place of understanding why the Turtles developed such a strong friendship with April. With Casey it always seemed a little bit too quick that they accepted him to the fold. I would have liked to see another episode of them building up their friendship first in some form.

Maybe Wormquake/The Manhattan Project counted? Either way it's my fic series! So what I say goes.

Also, as always, this is unbeta'd. I have to go through these fics with a fine tooth comb.

* * *

**Part 5: No Attorneys To Plead My Case**

* * *

Tonight, Casey thought (not for the first time), was just really not her night.

First, she had to fight those robot ninjas, then there was chase through the subway tunnels, then she almost died, and now, apparently, everyone (except April) thought she was a boy this whole time.

It's not the first time that it's happened.

Still vaguely insulting though. It's like just because she refuses to conform to society's standards of what a woman is, then she's automatically placed in the category of a guy.

Her annoyance must have shown on her face. April had recovered from her fits of laughter and placed a hand on Casey's arm.

"They haven't been around humans much."

Well obviously, Casey wanted to say out loud. She didn't though because she had some modicum of tact.

She even decided to exercise that tact, "I'm not mad. Just annoyed."

"Society's standards of beauty again?" asked April, correctly guessing Casey's thought track.

"Awww you have been listening to me and your aunt talk, Red."

April's aunt was a Women Studies professor at Empire State University. She was a cool older woman who believed that feminism came in different forms and taught a class about the philosophy of feminism along with one about gender in regards to a field of communications.

Casey thought the Margot Pratchett was possibly the coolest woman she had ever met. She was a spirited woman who didn't give two shits about what anyone thought. She had also taken an instant liking to Casey, who was also a proud feminist and didn't give two shits about what anyone thought of her.

"I always listen to when you and my aunt speak, Casey."

"Well I think you're pretty!" said the turtle in the orange mask, which was shocked by her femaleness moments ago. "Both of you are."

Casey smiled a bit at the endearing and awkwardly childish attempt to cover his blunder.

"Thanks," she said with a wink in his direction. "You're not so bad yourself."

He beamed at her with those big bright childlike blue eyes. Casey caught Raph's gaze, who rolled his eyes at his brother. Which made Casey grin at him wickedly.

Of course, she moved and her body protested a bit. She winced ever so slightly.

"So what does a girl gotta do to get her injuries looked at around here?"

That seemed to snap them all out of their various states of shock. The one on the couch with a toolbox waved, "Uh yeah that's going to be. I'll be checking you out."

He paused and blushed bright red, which Casey didn't know that turtles could go but hey mutants, and corrected himself, "I-I mean I'm going to be checking you over. Uh…hi? I'm Donatello."

"Smooth genius," said Raph from behind her. "Very smooth."

The newly introduced Donatello shot a glare in his brother's direction, but turned to Casey with a kinder gaze.

Casey swallowed thickly. Her instincts were all haywire because hello attractive people, flirt dammit flirt! All of them were attractive in an odd way and hey she didn't discriminate, she has had crushes all over the spectrum and slept with people she found attractive.

But these were also April's friends, so she will not flirt (now) anyway.

"Thanks, Donatello," she said to him kindly. He nodded and started going to work, large three fingered hands surprisingly gentle. She looked at the rest of the room, "So a boy huh?"

The one in the blue mask spoke up, "We thought you were April's boyfriend."

Now it was Casey's turn to laugh at April's face but that only lasted a few minutes.

"I could be her girlfriend," she said with a wink in April's direction. Casey heard a strangled noise next to her, Donatello gripping some sort of compression bandage a bit tighter.

_Oh!_ Oh. That's so cute. He has a crush on April.

"She's not my girlfriend," said April with an annoyed look in Casey's direction. "I like boys."

"I just like everyone," Casey said with a big grin on her face. "But enough about my pansexuality, April's heterosexuality, and my being a lady surprising all of you. Let's start this chat."

"That's probably the best idea. We should introduce ourselves first," admitted the blue masked one.

"Well most of the group I know," said Casey with a nod. She took her free arm and pointed at April, "That's Red."

She then moved to the rat man, "That's Splinter?" A nod confirmed her guess.

"My bash bro Raph is over there."

"Bash bro?" asked Raph, looking over at her curiously.

"Dude we just fought a robot ninja on top of a subway car after which you threw me at it so I could tase the," Casey glanced at Master Splinter and change her word choice, "heck out of it. We also saved each other's lives. There's a bond now, a deep bond. Like when Red and I had to deal with Goo Guy a while back."

"Troll Moment of Friendship," said April wisely coming over with a bag of ice for Raph.

Casey nodded, "She gets it."

"You're kind of nutty aren't you, Jones?"

"Now you're getting it, Raph. Knew I liked you. Even though I tried to break your arm. Sorry about that."

"Yeah well both of our tempers weren't being held in check. Anyway the guy in blue is my brother Leonardo and the one in orange is my other brother Michelangelo."

Casey blinked now. The names suddenly became familiar to her, "The Renaissance guys?"

"Quite right," said Master Splinter as he took a seat on the couch. "I named my sons after my favorite artists of the Italian Renaissance."

Sure why not. Casey's mother named her after mythological figures and named Madeline after that book series. Naming your kids after your favorite painters? She can go with that.

So she nodded.

"Okay so…uh…how? I mean not trying to sound like rude. But I don't know how to delicately ask uh how you all are the way you are."

"I will tell you the story, and then you will answer some of our questions?" offered Master Splinter.

"That's more than fair."

He almost seemed to smile, "A little over fifteen years ago, I was a man named Hamato Yoshi and had just moved from Japan…"

Donatello wasn't listening.

Well he was listening but he wasn't. The story that Sensei was telling was as familiar as his face at this point. He was focusing on Casey's injuries.

It was rare that Donatello was caught truly off guard. Most times, even when he was slight thrown off course, he could still catch his balance thanks to his brilliant mind. Sure he got frustrated when things went wrong, but more times then not he could usually MacGyver his way out of a situation.

Still the whole Casey being a girl thing was definitely something new. Or rather, it just a bit of a shock he supposed. Casey's layered clothing and demeanor had disguised her biological sex fairly well. Also adding in the fact that Donnie saw her from the back more often then not. His brothers had rather quickly disguised their own surprise. Despite this Donnie had a feeling that Sensei may do more lessons regarding body language training in the future.

He carefully, very carefully as he was aware the kind of damage his hands could do to humans, wrapped a compression bandage her wrist. She had a very mild sprain and didn't seem to notice it too much, but he read her slight wince fairly well.

He considered the myriad of bruises on her body. There were a couple of yellowing ones on her face and the fresher ones had started emerging.

Donnie winced in sympathy. She would be hurting tomorrow.

It kind of shocked him. He was all ready to hate her when he thought Casey was a guy. It was a reminder, sudden and harsh, that there would be no way on Earth that April would ever like him the way he liked her.

He knew that it was stupid, hanging onto the crush. Yet it made he feel…normal.

Liking a pretty girl, it was what most teenage boys _did_. He liked that feeling, this human feeling. He never expected to feel that before.

So seeing April with who he assumed was a boy, it was…maddening. It was hurtful. It was a reminder that he was just a mutant freak and will always be a freak.

The fact that Casey wasn't a boy and that she and April appeared to be just friends should have put Donatello at ease.

So why then did he feel so far off kilter?

Maybe it was because next time, next time a boy April was with probably would actually be a boy. A real _human_ boy.

And where would that leave Donnie?

Grabbing the salve of witch hazel and arnica for Casey's bruises, Donnie decided that maybe, for once in his life, he really shouldn't think about that right now.

Alien robots, mutagen, ninja grudges, a man turned into a rat man living in the sewers with his sons that he originally bought as pets…this was something that she would read in her comic books.

Casey hung onto Splinter's every word. She had to give him props because Splinter knew how to play to a captive audience.

She also had to give the guy props. He raised four sons by himself in the sewers with presumably little access to money and necessities. Yet he seemed to have created a comfortable environment for both himself and his boys, who were all well cared for. She seriously respected the hell out of him for that. Seriously major snaps.

People with a lot more did a lot less with their own children.

She leaned forward to give Donnie better access to her back. He was rubbing some strange goop on her bruises that smelled like herbs. She wasn't sure what was in it, but she kind of liked the smell. It smelled like earthy things.

"I'll also give you some naproxen after I'm done here."

Casey's eyebrows furrowed together and she glanced at him.

"Aleve," he elaborated after seeing her look. "I'm going to give you some Aleve."

"Whatever you say, Doc."

She grinned when she saw him roll his eyes. Turning she made sure to look into Splinter's eyes in direct eye contact.

"I swear to you, sir, that I won't tell anyone about your family or your location."

"What would you swear on?" challenge the blue one, Leonardo. "We only have your word and you led the Foot to our home."

Casey winced. He did have a point. She didn't have much to swear on, nothing of worth.

She closed her eyes.

"I would swear on my mother's everlasting soul to protect you and yours."

It was all she had; the one person who meant so much to her and (for the longest time) represented all the warmth and goodness in the world.

She felt Donatello's hand still on her back. Michelangelo and April had sucked in a simultaneous deep breath.

"Leo this is ridiculous," she heard Raph say. "Don't make her do this. She saved my life."

Casey hadn't heard Master Splinter contradict Leonardo. Apparently her help in saving their home from chaos that she had brought gave her a minimal amount of trust, the older man (and he was a man despite appearances) was not inclined to trust her that yet.

"No, Raph, it's okay," she said suddenly.

Casey, a little stiffly, stood up and walked over to Leonardo. She ignored Donatello's noise of protest at her moving.

Leonardo had to be the oldest of the turtles, the biggest of the big brothers. She knew the older sibling look in his eye. The one that said he would do anything to protect those he loved. She knew it well, saw it every single time she looked in the mirror, and she only had one younger sibling.

He had four, his brothers and April, to worry about.

As she moved toward him, she spoke frankly.

"I'm not that good of a person. I've drank, smoked, slept around, and stolen. I've started bar room brawls just because I was hurting and I wanted everyone else to hurt. I've done anything possible to win a fight. I'm not smart. I'm not good at a lot of stuff that hasn't to do with sports or fighting. I'm violent and broken and I'm probably going to die young. I don't have much to swear on that would mean anything to me. But I respect family and the bonds of it. You don't have any obligation to trust me. S'fine. I probably wouldn't trust me as far as I could throw me either. I'm trying to be a better person then what I once was."

Casey paused and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a long and thin black cord with a slim gold ring on it, her mother's wedding ring. She quietly held the ring in her hand and looked at Leonardo.

"I swear on Grace Maria Williams-Jones, may she forever rest in peace, that I will do my upmost to help and protect you and yours. If you feel like I have broken that, then I'll take whatever punishment you'll give."

His sharp, dark blue eyes looked deep into hers.

After several tension filled moments, he nodded.

"Alright."

"Alrigh' then."

Satisfied, Casey hobbled back to the couch.

"Casey…"

"It's okay, Red. Mom would understand what I had to do."

"Why were you after the Purple Dragons then?" asked Raph, seemingly eager to change the direction of the conversation after that tension filled exchanged. He was surprised that Sensei let Leo go that far, almost impassive in his judgment of Casey.

Even though he hated to admit he agreed with his brother, he knew what Leo was doing. Casey was a total unknown to them.

Still, Raphael was of the opinion that you can learn a lot about someone from how they fought.

Casey is raw, dangerous, and crazy. She out and out brawls and will do anything to make a point. She's bloodthirsty and brutal in a way that Raph knows very well. It's terrifying to witness someone who gives into that kind of rage.

He is still feeling their fight from a few days back.

But she still saved his life, pushing him out of the way in the last second from the train. She knew what he planned to do to stop the Foot Bot. She never called him a freak or any of them freaks. She teased him like he…he was normal.

She never once considered running once their job was done. She would have plenty to run for. She did lead the Foot to their home; the Bot had almost gotten away. She had to know that there was going to be some kind of consequence. They pushed the body of the Foot Bot in front of an oncoming train and walked back together.

Raph liked Casey, not like a crush or anything. But there was something about her, how she fought that spoke to him.

Casey looked over at him, "Yeah. You're probably wondering why I was all banana balls over them huh?"

Banana balls? That was a new one for Raph. Donnie was wrapping up Casey's stomach with some kind of gauze, more than likely to let the bruise slave absorb quicker.

"It's a valid point. Why did you want to break their arms?"

"Because one of them hit my little sister," said Casey simply. "I wasn't sure which one hit Madeline so I was gonna break all of their right arms to save me the trouble."

"Why their right arms?" asked Donnie, looking up from his work. A furrow had appeared between his eye ridges.

"Because there was a statistically higher probability that they were right handed instead of left," said Casey simply.

And she was leaving them their left arm so that they could still do stuff, if they all were right handed well then…she wasn't going to make it easy on them.

"What do the Purple Dragons have to do with your sister?" asked April. Then it seemed to hit her. "They mugged her didn't they? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Cause I probably would have mentioned my plans and you would have talked me out of it. And well we both had our own secrets from each other."

April bit her lip, "Is she okay?"

"Her bruise is almost gone. She's got…Madeline's always been more delicate then me. So it took awhile for it to heal. And they hurt her and took her wallet with out mom's picture in it. We don't have that many pictures of mom so I wanted to go and get it back for her. And then beat the hell out of the Purple Dragons."

"Well why didn't you say so?"

"Dude we were in the middle of a brawl," said Casey with a smirk. "I wasn't in the mood to chat about my feelings."

Okay yeah. Raph could admit that was a dumb question.

"So it was the Purple Dragons huh?"

His sais were feeling itchy and ready to be reintroduced to the Dragons. Ignoring the urge, Raph made his way over and sat down next to Casey.

"How old is your sister?"

"Turned thirteen a couple weeks back," said Casey as she took out her own wallet. Pulling out her phone, she brought up a picture of a sweet-faced blonde girl wearing a private school uniform. Her face was captured in the middle of a laugh making her freckled nose scrunch up.

"Cute kid," said Raph with some sincerity to his voice. He then smirked. "How is she related to you?"

He could feel his sensei give him a reprimanding look for that comment.

Casey, however, laughed long and hard. "Not a clue. She got all the good genes."

"You're done, Casey."

"Thanks, Doc," said the dark haired girl with a grin. "Red I think I gotta spare tank top in my bag of tricks. Can you grab it for me? I wanna walk around in my bra this whole time."

April looked relieved at having something to do. "Sure."

Casey leaned back carefully. "So now what?"

"Now we rest," said Leonardo seriously. He then suddenly looked a bit awkward. Not the self assured leader, but instead, he looked like a teenage boy. "You should um probably stay the night. I don't think anyone is in the shape to walk you home."

"S'cool. I'm not in the shape to go home. Let me just text Madeline and my dad. I'll say I'm crashing with April."

It was technically true. April, almost sensing her name, returned with Casey's top. Casey accepted the tank top from April, tugging on the familiar fabric somewhat awkwardly.

"And what do we do after tonight?" she asked, waiting for Leonardo to answer.

They could turn down her offer to help. Tell her to keep their secret and buzz off.

"I think that we should pay the Purple Dragons a visit in the near future," said Leonardo after a moment. He looked over at Casey and gave an almost smile, "You in Jones?"

Casey's red lips twitched upwards into a smirk, "Always."

Hearing Raph's noise of triumph next to her, she had a feeling like she may be on her way to acceptance in this strange group.

As Madeline Jones slept in her own room, she heard the door quietly open. As a light sleeper, it tended to happen far too often for her tastes. The young teen tensed at the sound of intrusion. Carefully she cracked open her eyes, a wave of relief flooded through her.

It was Casey, moving stiffly but there.

"Casey?" she murmured, already drifting back to sleep. She was safe and Casey was there. She felt her sister's long fingers card through her hair.

"Hey Mads," said Casey; using a nickname Madeline had declared to be too babyish a few years back. Normally she was respectful of her decision to be called Madeline, but sometimes she slipped up when they were alone.

Tonight though, Madeline didn't correct her older sister.

"I brought something for you."

A familiar worn photograph was slipped into her hand. Madeline glanced at it and a warmth flooded through her.

A beautiful, slim, blonde woman sat underneath a tree in Central Park. Her long hair fell down her back in a braid and her face was turned toward the sun. She was wearing a white sundress that was spread over her legs. In her arms, she held a two-year-old toddler with her blonde hair in ringlet pigtails dressed in a romper. Sitting next to her was a six-year-old girl wearing a pee wee soccer uniform, also blond and with a braid down her back. The six-year-old was dirty and had clearly been in a fight recently, but she looked almost peaceful next to the woman.

"Mom…"

Casey smiled and kissed Madeline's temple.

"You go back to sleep, Mads. Mom'll make sure you have good dreams."

Already destined to the Land of Dreams, Madeline quietly whispered, "Knew you would do it, Casey."

Casey paused at the door, her lean form a shadow in the entrance.

There was a curve of a smile on her lips, "Always, Mads, always."

Madeline fell back to sleep, secure in the knowledge that Casey would always watch out for her.

Casey spared one last glance at her sister's form. Madeline was already back to sleep, her fingers ghosting over the picture.

A feeling of triumph had passed through Casey at the sight. Madeline still had a ways to go, being mugged was still a traumatic experience for a young girl, but Casey hoped that getting the picture back brought her some kind of peace moving on.

Closing the door, Casey leaned back against the wall and breathed in the familiar scent of home.

She thought about the ninja turtles that she had left on her building's roof. They were probably flying through the city, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, to deliver the bag of retrieved wallets and belongings to a nearby police station.

Then, they were probably going to get pizza to celebrate in their home down in the systems and sewers of New York.

Casey laughed softly to herself, heading to the bathroom to shower.

Her life had certainly taken a turn for the weird, but maybe it was for the best.

Who wanted an ordinary life anyways?

* * *

**A/N: **I hope the whole swearing on her mom's soul part wasn't too overly dramatic. But they honestly have no real reason to truly trust her, even what little trust she gained by helping them out. Because Leonardo will protect his brothers no matter what.

I promise I'm going somewhere with Casey's bad girl past. I got plans for ex-boyfriend/best friend Nick. Down the line, Turtle friendships first.

I kind of like the idea that Ciro put forth in the 2014 Comic Con panel. He said that all of the Turtles were in love with April in their own special way. The plan is to hopefully do the same with Casey Jones. Leonardo is going to be the hardest sell in my book. It's an older sibling thing.

Updates will probably be slowing down. I have to start packing up to head to grad school this week.

Anyway as always I hope everyone was in character in some form. I'm working on it. Mikey hasn't been given much yet, but that should change. I'm always terrified to write the happy-go-lucky characters. But he will be done. So will Leo. Sorry for the long notes!

Also to _Luna_ who reviewed: You'll have to see who Casey ends up with. Although I will say that so far hers and Raph relationship will be strictly platonic. I just really like the idea of them are just BFF's in their own special way.


	6. Part Six

**A/N: **Title comes from P!nk's "Raise Your Glass".

You know this was supposed to be a cute and fluffy piece originally. But dammit Raph wanted to be angry and Casey wanted to tell her story with Nick. So I let them.

This piece is unbeta'd.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_.

* * *

**Part 6:**_Wrong In All The Right Ways_

* * *

Casey Jones had been planning this night for a solid week. She made sure that the guys didn't need her for patrol. She made sure that April didn't have a tutoring session planned for them. She triple checked with Coach about any practices. Madeline was sleeping over at friend's place. Her dad and Linda were going to a spa in the Catskills for some sort of architect conference thing.

This meant one thing.

Casey had the place to herself.

It was rare that Casey had time totally to herself.

Despite being a loner by nature, she was rarely alone. Classmates, teammates, family, and other New Yorkers surrounded her constantly. The stream of chatter was incessant and the sea of people surrounding her vast.

A few months back, she sought out these crowds in defiance of her nature. She surrounded herself in a crush of bodies in dance clubs and seedy bars. She sought out the sweat and blood of any underground fight clubs she discovered. People to distract her became something that she needed desperately. Faceless people for her to hurt and to dance and to use for her own purposes were needed.

Of course, a few months can change a person. Casey was definitely changed: a little older, a little sadder, and a little wiser. She also had become a hockey mask wearing vigilante to work with a bunch of mutated turtles ninjas and her friend at the center of an alien conspiracy to protect the city (possibly the world).

It was a different kind of crowd that she looked for now.

Still, Casey had always been a solitary soul at heart. She had been working with the turtles on and off for three weeks. Their alliance was still awkward. Only Raph and April talked to her. Donatello was distant. Leonardo didn't trust her (which, Raph told her, was laughable). Michelangelo seemed friendly but also uncertain.

It was fine of course. Casey knew that she wasn't the easiest person to like. She also knew that she was still a hotheaded relative unknown.

Trust was always something to be earned.

Still, it was weighing on her a bit. She needed this weekend to regroup and start fresh.

Friday night, she finished her own solo patrol for muggers and general creeps in the area. Then she made her way home and slept in until Saturday afternoon.

By the time that she got up, it was blissfully silent in her home. Casey stretched in her bed and let out a contented sigh.

Then she got up to prepare for her big night of doing nothing.

She made a special trip out to a tiny pizzeria near Coney Island, which was run by a cranky, old Italian man who didn't deliver pizza, you came to him for the pizza. She picked up a vodka pie and ran it back home. Then she went to her favorite hole in the wall bakery for cupcakes.

She followed it up to a visit to a bookstore to pick up some magazines.

Casey trekked back home, up the steps, and closed the door behind her. The silence seeped blissful and clear with only muffled street noise leaking in.

She closed her and slumped against the door. Purchases still held in her hands loosely.

She liked her life. She liked her responsibilities for the hockey team and as a new vigilante. It took her some time to get to that.

Time, and increasingly poor decisions, but still she was content enough with her current situation in life. Of course, this was only a stopgap measure. She knew that the future remained constantly breathing down her neck.

Casey shook her head and looked into her reflection. She ruffled her hair in annoyance. It was getting long and she needed to touch up her roots sometime soon.

She sighed and untied the skull bandana from her wrist. Pulling off her hoodie vest, t-shirt, and jeans, Casey walked in her long sleeved gray shirt and underwear to the bathroom.

The deep claw footed tub that her father installed several years back had never looked so good to Casey. Normally she was a shower kind of girl, but tonight she was planning on making full use of the bath.

One look at Casey Jones, and most people would think she wasn't the type of girl to love bubble baths. They would also be wrong.

Bubble baths were usually a treat for Casey. Something about them was just a special kind of magic that allowed her to just breathe. Her muscles almost seemed to relax all at once and her problems felt a million miles away.

So after weeks and weeks of her body being put through its paces from practices, to crime fighting, and just day-to-day life. Casey was just going to get in the tub with those bubbles and soak while listening to her backlog of _Welcome to Night Vale_ episodes.

Then afterwards she was going to reheat her pizza, gorge herself on delicious vodka sauce goodness, eat her cupcakes, and watch _Mean Girls_ and _The Mighty Ducks_.

Turning on the water, Casey waited until it hit the perfect temperature before pulling the tub and adding the lavender-vanilla scented bubble bath. She considered the scene and deciding to just go all in went and got some candles to light as well. In the flickering light of the candles, Casey sat on the toilet and read a hockey magazine she picked up earlier in the day.

Once the tub was done filling up, Casey set up her iPod's portable speaker and started up the first episode on her backlog for _Night Vale_. Stripping down and settling in the water, she sighed as immediately all her muscles loosened up and the tension seeped out of her.

Tonight was going to be wonderful.

Tonight sucked.

Raph was seriously two seconds away from tying Mikey up and shoving him a closet.

Everyone had mutually decided that a night in sounded like a good idea. The issue was that no one had really decided on what to do with their free time. Now ever since the incident with Spike…with **Slash**, Raph has been trying to do better with his brothers.

Exercise patience.

It wasn't going all that well tonight. Raph could feel the familiar anger creep over him as Mikey's running commentary for the movie started to get all kinds of annoying. The fact that earlier today, Leo and he had fight about their latest raid of the Kraang was just adding to the pressure valve of his temper.

The only brother he wasn't close to losing it at was Donnie. But Donnie had disappeared into his lab all day, so that was a contributing factor.

Raph sucked in a breath through his teeth. He had to let his anger flow over him like water over a river rock.

That's what Sensei kept telling him.

The only problem was that it wasn't working. He just wanted to watch a movie in peace without the color commentary. Was that so much to ask?!

He stood suddenly, making Mikey quiet instantly. Leo looked over his shoulder with an assessing expression.

Raph blew out a breath and muttered, "This movie is dumb anyway. I'm goin' out."

"Where?" asked Leo, like he had some sort of control over what Raph did outside of their various team missions.

Raphael was allowed to have his own life.

"Just out! You're not the boss of me, Leo!"

And with that he stormed out of the Lair with no real destination in mind.

Maybe he'll pay a visit to Casey. She had extended an invitation for Raph to come and hang out whenever. He could take her up on it.

That's what friends did, right?

With a destination in mind, Raph climb out of the sewer and replaced the manhole cover. In a flash, he was gone up to the tops of buildings and flying in the night.

Casey hummed as she padded back to her bedroom. The soak in the tub was just what she needed, having stayed in long enough for her fingers to prune and to have listened to three Night Vale episodes. When the water got too cold for her to stand, she pulled the plug and rinsed off any soap that clung to her body.

Blowing out the candles in the bathroom, she padded out dressed in her favorite pajamas: an old pair of flannel pants and an even older tank top that barely covered her stomach. She still kept rubbing the towel through her hair hoping it would dry it quicker.

Opening the door to her bedroom, she absentmindedly flicked on the light.

And jumped five feet in the air with a yelp at the figure on her bed.

Raph looked up with wide green eyes at the noise. "Whoa Jones! Calm down it's only me!"

Casey clutched her chest and took a deep breath, "Christ Raph! Warn a girl first!"

"You know you won't last long as vigilante if you get surprised by this," pointed out her newest friend.

She flashed him a dirty look. "I'll last plenty long. I just wasn't expecting to see you tonight is all."

Suddenly he looked a bit awkward, "Should I leave? Is your family here? I should leave."

"No don't leave Raph," said Casey waving off his concerns. "My family is all out for the weekend. I just wasn't expecting to see you. "

Raph scowled a bit, "My brothers were getting on my nerves. So I left except I didn't really have anywhere to go so…I mean you said I could stop by whenever."

That was true Casey did. She took in his face, which looked tense and a bit drawn. She recognized that expression, one of someone who felt a little frayed at keeping a temper in check.

Suddenly all of her weekend plans for alone time where thrown out the window. She smiled kindly at her friend.

"Come on, man. I was just about to reheat a pizza I got earlier today and I have cupcakes. I was just going to veg out and watch movies, but it's much more fun with someone else."

"Well," huffed Raph a bit, "If you're sure."

"Totally. You never had vodka pizza right? We need to rectify that," said Casey throwing her towel over her shoulder.

Maybe, Raph thought, he should have waited on the fire escape or the roof. When he came Casey's room was dark, but he knew that the girl was supposed to be home this weekend. Even if she did solo patrols, she usually sent a text to him about her coordinates incase he wanted to come with her.

It was strange to have a friend like Casey. He honestly just wasn't all that used to have them to begin with. Sure, there was April, but she and him tended not to hang out too much one on one.

With Casey, the girl usually stuck by him when she went on patrol with him and his brothers. It was clear that out of everyone, Raph trusted Casey the most. Unlike April, there was something about the girl that radiated danger and brutality. She was not one to be protected.

Of course, with Leo all about giving Karai second chances, Raph didn't see why he has to be so cautious in regards to Casey. Either way, the caution had spread to his younger brothers and even Mikey, who wanted more friends, was keeping his distance.

He almost wanted them to see Casey like this, in her room covered with band posters and hockey posters with clothes strewn across the floor and a couple of patched up stuffed animals in the corner. Her face was bare of make-up, and it was the first time Raph had seen her without her signature red lipstick.

She looked pretty in her own unique Casey way. Not that Raph had a yardstick to compare her too anything in that department. She was more dangerous than April and kinder than Karai, the only other two girls he has ever really known.

He got up to follow her out, but paused at her desk and stared.

"Uh Casey?"

"Yeah?"

"How many tubes of red lipstick do you own?"

Because that was a lot of lipstick in different tubes carefully lined up like they were about do battle. In the distance, he heard Casey laugh.

"A girl can never own too much lipstick," she said with a mischievous grin on her face. "No two shades are alike."

"I'm just gonna take your word for that," said Raph because he only had her word for it.

Following Casey into the kitchen, he watched the girl warm up the oven and slide a couple of slices of pizza onto a tray.

"So what were your brothers doing that annoyed you so much?" asked Casey, watching the oven preheat.

"They were just…being themselves," said Raph awkwardly. It was hard to put into words just what annoyed him so much. He loved his family but they just knew how to get under his skin in the worst possible way.

Casey nodded, seemingly unconcerned with the response. She took out two bottles from the fridge and twisted off the tops.

"Siblings can be kind of annoying like that," she said simply. "I mean I only got Mads and I love her dearly but sometimes she drives me up the wall, too. She's always trying to be so grown up all the time. And I did the whole adult situations thing. It's not all fun as it's cracked up to be."

She handed Raph a bottle of soda and gestured him to sit with her on the couch.

"The oven's old as all hell I hope you don't mind waiting awhile while it preheats."

"I got time," he said taking a swig of the soda. It fizzed and bubbled down his throat.

Casey smiled and sat back. This close, Raphael could see her tattoo: a white rose in full bloom on her shoulder.

"Where did this come from?" he asked. Casey blinked over at him and looked down at her arm.

"I got it a couple of months back," said Casey looking up at the ceiling. "Kind of my own promise to keep my feelings in check."

Casey looked over at Raph with a considering look. And seemed to have made a decision because she leaned back and closed her eyes.

"Around January of last year, my boyfriend stopped talking to me after we won the State Championships. He just stopped cold turkey, refused to answer my calls or anything. He just pretended like I didn't exist. There was an accident before he stopped. He got too close to a shot I was making and got hurt. But you know, he said that he was cool with it. So I thought we were cool."

Casey sighed and leaned back.

"Except we weren't as cool as I thought. He refused to have anything to do with me. Didn't even have the courtesy to break up with me face to face. His asshole father did it. Can you believe it? I told Nick everything. And as far I knew, he's kept my secrets to himself. But I was still mad you know? I didn't really have people other than my family before him and he just stopped. Walked away from our relationship like it was something to throw in the trash, like I was trash. Then I found out he knocked up one of the popular girls in school a couple weeks after the break-up."

Raph couldn't help but wince at that. He's lived in the sewers his whole life and even he knew that was bad.

"He sounds like an asshole."

"He was an asshole. But so am I. We were friends first too. He was my first real friend and it just kind of progressed?" Casey chewed on her lip and sighed. "We were complicated. Our relationship probably wasn't all that healthy. But it was one that became important to me. I didn't have many people. After my mom died, I had to repress everything. Dad kind of sank into a deep depression. So I had to look after Madeline and him for years. I never…really had a chance to feel things after her death. I had to repress and focus on them. Then with Nick I had someone who saw me and loved me. At least I thought he did."

She swallowed thickly.

"So for a time I went off the rails. I embraced that anger and sorrow. I was mad at Nick and my mom for leaving me. I was mad that Madeline and my Dad were moving on with their lives. I felt like everyone was moving on and I was staying still. But I couldn't…take it out on them. So I took it out on myself. It was a catalyst for a lot of stuff I repressed blowing up."

She leaned back and closed her eyes for several moments. She then opened them and looked over at Raph.

"The thing about anger is when that you let it control you, then it controls you. It consumes you utterly and brings in grief and sorrow. You drown in it until it kills you or until you are rescued. The rose is a reminder of my rescue that I should never let myself drown in those emotions. It's a reminder of…positive things in life, of beauty."

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Raphael after a moment.

He wanted to know why she was telling him these things. He wanted to go find the punk who broke her heart. He wanted to run away and hold her at the same time.

Casey leaned back and smiled at him.

"Cause you're my friend and I think you'll understand it. I haven't really shared this stuff with April. I don't think she would get it. The thing I guess I want to share is that its hard letting that anger go. But sometimes talking about it helps or just listening to music or finding something that's a release. I mean I take bubble baths and listen to the Beatles and watch movies and flirt with everyone. It makes me feel good. It's a reminder that I'm allowed to feel good."

"So I need to find something that makes me feel good? That's not fighting?"

"Pretty much."

"I…I don't even know where to start with that," admitted Raph after a moment. Fighting was all he was good at. He wasn't smart like Donnie, put together like Leo, or had that natural warmth like Mikey. Fighting though? That he could do and do it well.

He could protect people with that.

"Well you can start here with me," said Casey simply. "We're going to eat pizza and cupcakes and watch my two favorite movies. Nothing happens over night after all."

"And then?"

"Then you go home to your brothers. Try different things. I'm sure there was something you enjoyed other than fighting in your life. Remember that and follow it."

"I always liked music?" said Raph almost tentatively.

"That's a start," said Casey with a warm grin.

With that the oven beeped, Casey stood and walked over.

"Start the movie, Raph. We're watching _Mean Girls._"

"Why?"

"Because I dropped at least three references on patrol the other day and not even Mikey, who I know is vaguely obsessed with whatever pop culture he can get didn't pick up on it. So I'm going to fill in your cultural gaps starting with the greatest movie of the early two thousands."

Raph stared at Casey carefully. He looked uncertain on if she was joking or not.

"Alright."

"Trust me on this."

And funny enough? He did.

Casey Jones was a broken person. But so was Raph, who had always been so focused on protecting his family that he never really focused on himself. With the loss of Spike, he had lost his outlet and a way to stop those feelings from being bottled up inside.

That night he went home and to his room looking at his drum kit with interest for the first time in years. He picked up the drumsticks and spun them one before hitting the cymbal.

The sound of the stick against the metal made him smile.

Music huh? Maybe Casey had a point. Everyone needed their own release.

Three days later, after a fight with the Foot Bots, Casey counted the bodies and looked at Raph with absolute seriousness before saying, "And four for Glen Coco, you go Glen Coco."

Raph started laughing so hard that he got the hiccups, which sent Casey into her giggle fit as well. The two of them eventually had to hold each other up while Leo, Donnie, and Mikey looked on in absolute confusion.

That was okay, too.

It turned out having a friend like Casey? Someone who would make those stupid jokes at him and tell him the not so good parts and offer advice?

It may have been what Raphael needed all along, what he wanted the most out of Sp…Slash.

As he and Casey stood laughing surrounded by destroyed Foot Bots and confused brothers, he finally felt like he had found it.

* * *

**A/N: **Raph and Casey are awesome friends. I kind of like the idea of them just sort of getting each other and allowing for emotional vulnerability.

And yes there was a drum kit visible in "Slash and Destroy". So headcanon is that Raph wanted to learn how to play the drums and was into music, but kind of got lost in fighting. Now though without having Spike to vent to, he's needs a new outlet.

Next piece should be interesting because it's going to Casey and Leonardo focused.


	7. Part Seven

**A/N:** Title comes from P!nk's song "Missundaztood". Some dialogue is lifted from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone just a few lines though.

As always this is unbeta'd.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_.

* * *

**Part Seven:** _I Might See The World In A World Inside Of You_

* * *

Casey Jones adjusted her strap of her messenger bag, making sure it was tight against her body. She tripled check her surroundings again, not wanting to accidentally lead enemies to the Lair for a second time.

Satisfied that she was alone, Casey moved the manhole cover to the side and slipped under, quickly replacing the top as she descended. Landing lightly on her feet, thankfully not in sewage, Casey took out a flashlight from her messenger bag and turned it on.

One thing no one told you about the sewers was that it was really freaking dark down here.

Casey rubbed the back of her neck and began her trek. Since becoming friends with Raph, he's been letting her stash her gear in his room. If she kept it at her place, then sooner or later someone from her family was going to stumble across it. Then there would be so many questions. Casey preferred answering those questions around the fifth of never.

Normally April and she would walk down to the Lair together, the other girl meeting up with her after hockey practice. Tonight, though, April had an uncle's birthday party that she needed to attend. So it was just Casey walking down the sewers tonight.

At least, she felt like she had a good idea where she was going. Hopefully. Her sense of direction was a bit wonky at times.

Casey adjusted her strap again and consulted the little map that April made for her. Casey was actually looking forward for some solo patrolling with the rest of the turtles tonight. Maybe without April they would be forced to interact with her.

It was starting to get a little grating on her, the rest of the team's reluctance about her. She needed to know that they would trust her to have their back so she can do the same. If she was going to team up with these guys, there needed to be something there.

And she knew where to start: Leonardo.

He was the one who was the most cautious in regards to her. Raph said that Leo was being cautious due to their (Raph and hers) somewhat similar temperament.

"I think he thinks that you're gonna go off the rails or somethin'," said Raph to her a few nights back. He and Casey were sitting on a roof, their legs dangling off the ledge as they watched the people down the street.

"Do you think I would?"

"Well I don't think you would go yell at someone in the middle of the fight because they made you mad."

Casey's eyebrows ticked upward and she glanced at Raph. "Speaking from experience?"

"Remind me to tell you about Spider Bytez sometime."

"I'll hold you to that," Casey said before looking down at the people on the street. "So what do I do about your brother?"

"I barely know what to do in regards to my brother," admitted Raph with a shrug. "Just give him and the others time, I know that isn't what you want to hear. But it's what you need to do."

Casey groaned and kicked out her legs, "Yeah I was afraid you were going to see that."

A scream from nearby caught the pair's attention and they were off in an instant, conversation forgotten.

In the present, Casey's booted feet carefully navigated the walkways of the sewer system. She wasn't all that good at getting people to like her enough to want to see her again and again. She supposed the fact that Leonardo hadn't told her to buzz off was a testament that some part of him liked her.

April had assured her that they guys were endearingly sweet, especially Leo. But it was clear that they had adopted her into the family, so Casey was seeing a bit of bias in that statement.

Casey looked around the tunnel carefully and consulted the map again. Feeling satisfied that she was close; she pocketed the map and kept her flashlight low. Stepping into the low light of the tunnels near the Lair, Casey turned off the flashlight.

She just needed to keep positive.

Leo felt like he was dying.

Well he probably wasn't dying for real, but damn did his body made him feel like it. He had woken up with his head full of cotton and scratchy throat. All he wanted to do was crawl into bed and just quietly die.

It had taken Sensei one look at Leo, who had dragged himself out of bed for training, to send immediately back to his room with Donnie. He was quickly diagnosed with a cold and also given a lecture for being an idiot and not getting warm after taking a plunge in icy water during a battle with the Kraang a couple nights ago.

"I know you hate to admit that you're not Superman," said Donnie with a huff. "But, after me, you've always been the most prone to getting sick, Leo. You need to take better care of yourself."

Leo moaned in response. Donnie's eyes softened at that and a cool washcloth was dabbed on his warm face.

"You need to rest, okay? Sensei will sit with you when we go out on patrol tonight. But you need to sleep, Leo, and let us take care of you."

Leo made another noise and coughed. He drank some water and took the medicine Donnie forced down his throat before he was covered up to his chin with his blankets.

Shortly after, he drifted off into a deep sleep.

Casey hopped over the subway turnstile that led into the Lair. She could hear distant noises in the kitchen, possibly Michelangelo cleaning up after dinner. The door to Donatello's lab was shut. Raph and Master Splinter were nowhere to be seen.

"Hello?" called Casey, looking around the empty space. "Anyone home?"

A couple moments later, Michelangelo came out with an unusually somber expression.

Casey felt her heart drop to her stomach.

"Michelangelo? Did something happen? Are you guys okay?"

She checked him for injuries with a practiced eye. She didn't hear of any strange incidents happening earlier to day, but that didn't mean anything. Oh God why was it so quiet in here? April would have called her if something terrible happened right? Or was this a family thing? Maybe she should go back home. She wasn't family to them after all. She shouldn't be having a quiet inner freak out like this. It wasn't like…

"Leo's sick," said the orange masked turtle miserably.

And her body became awash in relief. Okay that still sucks, no one likes being sick, but it's better then the alternatives.

"Aw man that blows," said Casey, rubbing the back of her neck. "Is he going to be alright?"

"Donnie's taking care of him," said Michelangelo, still looking put out that his brother was sick. "He and Leo used to get sick a lot growing up. They're better now, but still if one of us gets sick, then it's usually one of them."

"Man that really blows. My sister used to get sick a lot growing up, too," explained Casey, "But he'll be fine. Leonardo seems like the type to bounce back."

The younger turtle grinned at that, "Yeah. He usually does."

"We still need to go out on patrol tonight," said Raph entering the room with Casey's bag of tricks. "Kraang activity has been up. I don't wanna take a risk, even if Leo is sick. Hey Case."

"Raph," greeted Casey, taking her bag.

Donatello entered the room with a sigh, "Sensei is still on the phone with his contacts in Japan."

Casey raised an eyebrow and looked over at Raph for an explanation.

"The Hamato family is kind of rich. So Sensei makes a call twice a year to stock -up on funds for supplies for us. But the amount is different since we stopped with the algae and worms. Normally we get them delivered to different drop off points. It just takes a while and I don't want to leave Leo by himself. He would probably come after us, the moron."

Casey decided to put the whole algae and worms question on the backburner. She sucked on her bottom lip for a moment.

"I could stay with him," offered Casey suddenly.

Everyone startled and looked at her.

"You guys need to go do this stuff with the Kraang right? And if Master Splinter is still on the phone, then he can't watch Leo. April is over at her family thing. So I can you know do it. I've done it with my sister plenty of times. And if he tries to get up and leave, well I'll make him stay in bed."

Raph suddenly looked much more relieved, "Are you sure, Casey? It may be boring."

"Eh. I can handle it. You and me can do double duty ass-kicking next time."

With a look over at Raph, Michelangelo stepped forward first.

"I made some chicken noodle soup for him. It's real chicken noodle, no pizza at all. Just be sure to tell him that. It's on the stove and all you gotta do is heat it up when he wakes up," he said seriously as he could manage.

Casey nodded, "I'll make sure he eats it."

Then over her Mikey's head, she mouthed at Raph: 'Pizza and chicken noodle soup?'

He shook his head in the universal gesture of 'Don't Ask'.

Donatello came over with a small medical kit, "I've been keeping track of Leo's temperature in this notebook. You need to take it again at eight and then again at ten, if we're not back by then, and write down any changes in it. Also he needs to take these two pills at eight, but try to get him to eat something first."

"Sounds alright enough."

"Leo's room is the first one on the right. Thanks for doin' this, Case. I owe you one," said Raph, clapping a hand on her shoulder.

Casey winked over at him. "I'm gonna hold you to that, Sai Guy."

Raph snorted, looking over at his two brothers.

"Come on, guys. Let's go kick some alien butt."

Casey watched them go and waved goodbye. Picking up her messenger bag, she walked down the hall, finding Leonardo's room easily.

She opened the door and peeked inside.

Leonardo clearly decorated his room with an Eastern influence in mind. His mattress was on the floor, trying to emulate a Japanese futon. There was a hodgepodge of mismatched and patched beanbag chairs and pillows on the floor to sit on. His swords were carefully hung on the wall and a screen divider with cherry blossoms took over a corner of the room.

There was also a wall of books in both Japanese and English, nearly all of them had some form of water damage and most of them were either sci-fi or historical fiction. The oldest one was written sometime in the eighties.

The other thing that seemed out of place in Leonardo's room was the _Space Heroes_ poster on the wall. Raph had mentioned that Leonardo was a major fanboy of that show, in particular Captain Ryan. Now, Casey didn't want to fight but she wasn't that big of a Captain Ryan fan herself. She was all about Dr. Mindstrong, baby.

She also preferred _Doctor Who_ for her TV science fiction fix.

Casey quietly removed her shoes. (If Leonardo was going for a whole Japanese room, then she was going to use what vague customs she knew to respect his wishes.) Padding over in her socks, she took a seat on the cushion closest to Leonardo's bed.

This was the first time that she had ever seen any of the turtles without their mask on. Offhandedly, she wondered if April had ever seen them mask-less before. It wasn't like he was horribly ugly without the mask on, quite the opposite in fact. He was attractive.

Casey tilted her head to the side.

Leonardo slept on, his breathing labored by congestion.

Okay this was kind of boring.

Casey fixed herself in the lotus position and spying a basin of water with a washcloth in it, decided to make herself useful until eight.

She pulled out the washcloth and wrung out the excess water. Gently dabbing Leonardo's face with it, she started to speak.

"I'm like ninety-seven percent sure that you really don't like me. And I'm not entirely certain why. I mean I have theories. Raph just thinks that it's 'cause he and I are too similar. But look I'm not going to leave a fight to go and yell at someone. Did Raph really do that? He hasn't told me the story yet. Something about a guy called Spider Bite?"

Casey dipped the cloth back into the water.

"Raph says to just give you and the others time. And I mean I get it…you don't trust me and the others, whether they like it or not, will follow your lead. It's an older sibling thing. My sister and I were the same way for a lot of years, still are in some way. Even when the younger ones try to fly, there is still some looking to you for a reaction type of a thing. Still s'like playing hockey, I need to know that the guys on my team have got my back. I know Raph has my back, but I'm not sure either about the rest of you. Maybe we should both meet halfway? I've been doing that with Linda, she's my dad's girlfriend, and it seems to be working."

Gently, Casey ran a hand over Leonardo's surprisingly soft and smooth head. An idea suddenly hit her and she dragged her messenger bag closer. Digging around inside of it, she continued to talk.

"But you don't wanna hear me talk do you? Hey. I have an idea! My mom used to do this for me and my sister when we were sick. I still do it for Mads…Madeline, she hates it when I call her Mads even when she's not around I feel like she would know. Anyway Mom did it for me and Madeline when we were kids. I mean I know that your dad probably did different stuff with you guys, but he's still on the phone. Anyway I got these all loaded up on my e-reader. I know Raph thinks I'm like probably super cool and all, but I'm kind of a huge dork."

Casey tucked herself into a more comfortable position. She had an alarm set on her phone for a few hours when she had to get Leonardo up.

"I think you'll like it. I mean mostly everyone likes it," she said, settling down and clearing her throat. The light of the e-reader lit her face softly. Opening it to the first page, she started to read aloud to Leonardo's sleeping form.

"_Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."_

There was someone talking to him and dabbing his face.

Leo was only vaguely aware of it. He recognized the voice, husky and feminine, deeper then April. He stirred a bit more and his mind, slightly less foggy then earlier, conjured up a name.

Casey.

Why was Casey here in his room?

Slowly words began to piece through his mind. In the state between a healing slumber and sickly awareness, Leo heard what Casey said to him. He kept still, even sick his mind still called upon his training. People tended to confess more to the unconscious.

It wasn't an issue of trust in regards to Casey for Leo. Swearing on her mother to keep their home secret, it struck a chord with Leo. It showed how seriously the girl seemed to take this.

What bothered him was the fact that she seemed to lack stakes in this. April's dad was kidnapped. Karai was taken from Splinter and raised by Shredder. Everyone had this whole interconnection going on.

Casey just sort of accidentally fell into this and embraced it. Part of Leo worried that the girl didn't take it seriously, that she would leave when it became clear to her how dangerous it was. He didn't want someone to hurt his family. He saw what April's declarations of never seeing them again did to his brothers and to himself.

He didn't like giving someone that power over him.

Yet here Casey was dabbing at his feverish head softly and talking about meeting halfway, that she needed to know Leo was watching her back.

It took all kinds to bring a team together.

He was lulled back to an easy sleep as Casey read to him. Maybe he could borrow whatever book she was reading from when he felt better.

Hagrid had just arrived to the cabin on the rock in the middle of the sea when the alarm went off, signaling that Leonardo needed his temperature taken along with pills and food. Quickly shutting off the alarm and powering down the e-reader, Casey leaned over and shook Leonardo awake.

"Leonardo? Leooonaaarrrdooo? Come on time to get up for a little bit."

"Can call me Leo y'know," said a scratchy voice. "Don't have to keep calling me Leonardo."

"Didn't want to assume I could," said Casey in a softer voice. She usually used this voice when her sister was sick. "How are you feeling?"

"Better then crap."

Casey huffed a laugh, "I need to take your temperature for Donatello's notebook. And then I'll get you some soup. Michelangelo said that it didn't have pizza in it? It's just chicken noodle. I'll assume you know what that means."

"Likes to experiment."

"Huh," Casey said simply. The definitely explained all the questions she had about that. "Do you want to have it here? Or do you wanna move to the couch or something? It sucks staying in your room all day."

Leo was silent for a couple moments before saying, "Couch."

"Alright but you're going to have to lean on me though."

"…kay."

He sat up and tentatively stood up. Draping an arm around Casey's shoulders, the two of them made their way out to the living room area. She sat Leo down and grabbing a folded blanket tucked it around his shoulders.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Now stay here. I mean it. I promised Raph you would stay and if you try to make a break for it. I will tackle you. Ninja or not, I am that damn stupid."

Leo seemed to huff a laugh at that and said, "Won't."

"Good," she turned on the TV and after some fiddling found an episode of _Space Heroes_. "Now watch that and I'll get you some soup."

Leo was already viewing the episode intently when she left.

Heating up the soup, she hummed to herself softly. Casey liked feeling useful and taking care of people was good. Back when she was little and the world seemed more alight with possibilities, she wanted to be a doctor or something. Watching her Mom get sick and the doctors could only make her comfortable though…it soured something in Casey's doctoring dreams. Plus she had horrendous grades in biology and math, which you kind of need to be a doctor.

Dreams and people just change. It's like the nature of life or something.

Leo pulled the blanket around him closer and moved down into the softness of their home's couch. His eyes were half-lidded as he barely paid attention o the familiar episode of _Space Heroes_. In the distance, he heard Casey as she made him something to eat in the kitchen.

His stomach growled appreciatively as the scent of warmed soup drifted into the living room. It was better then the algae and worm stew that they had instead during sick days.

It was strange, decided Leo, seeing Casey so gentle. The other girl was usually so brash and bold, always tied with Raph for being the first one in with her weapons swinging. After the fighting was done, she usually had a joke or a reference to something he had never heard of before.

He still has no idea who Glen Coco is or why whenever Raph or Casey take down four of whatever they are fighting they shout it at each other later.

He's kind of embarrassed to ask April.

Casey came back in, carefully balancing a tray of soup, dry toast, and water with two pills in one of their teacups. She smiled at him and set it down.

"Smells good."

"Gotta hand it to you," said Casey with warmth to her tone. "Your brother knows how to cook. I may take a bowl later. But first you eat."

"Thanks."

"No problem," said Casey with a grin. She set down the tray in front of him and flopped down on the couch.

They sat in silence as Leo ate his soup and Casey watched the show.

"Why?" asked Leo suddenly, his thoughts and lack of internal filter due to illness causing him to blurt out the question.

Casey looked over at him.

"Why what?"

"Why do you…do this? With us? I don't get it. April and Karai didn't really have a choice in the matter here."

"And I make the conscious choice to go out with ninja turtles and fight aliens, robots, and thugs every night," said Casey, watching Dr. Mindstrong carefully on the television.

"Yeah."

"Just because something hasn't happened to me doesn't mean that it couldn't," said Casey after a moment. Her short, choppy hair fell into her face. "I was involved when I started hanging out with Red, Leo. I was involved when Goo Guy and those Foot Bots attacked us. And it's fine because I was involved. Just me."

Casey crossed her long legs together and looked ahead. "But I couldn't live with myself knowing those things existed out there and that they could hurt the people I care about. They did hurt someone that I care about. I mean this wasn't a decision I made lightly. But when Mads, Madeline got hurt? I knew there was a lot worse out there than some thugs. So I do this to protect my family and the people I love. And I won't stop doing it. I'm not good at much but I'm really good at fighting. If I can help protect my family, April…you guys, then maybe I'll end up doing something good in my life."

She blushed after that, looking almost embarrassed by her statement.

"Y'know," she said after several moments of silence. "I used to be a lot less upfront with my emotions before I met April and you guys."

Leo laughed into his soup. Casey looked pleased by the clean dishes and made sure the pills were taken.

Leo settled back carefully with his eyes half shut.

"Casey?" he asked hoarsely.

"Yeah?"

"Can you read me some more of that book?"

He could almost see the sliver of her smile, "Sure Leo. Hang on."

Leo was half asleep when Casey started to read again.

Her voice was as soft as the blanket around him, "_BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake."_

Splinter sighed as he closed the door behind him. Fifteen years and some odd months meant that he was running a bit low on stories for his contacts in Japan. He was going to have to figure out something different for the next time he made a call to get some money wired over. Still, it was worth it to keep his sons fed and their weapons up to date. Even if he couldn't give them much and most of their things came scavenged from the various dumps, he could at least give them food and means of protection.

Still, he didn't like to leave his eldest son alone for so long. His other boys had left hours ago while he was still on the phone. And he hated not taking care of his children when they needed him.

Tang Shen would probably have called him an overprotective father, and perhaps he was.

Still, he was a bit surprised by the sight he was greeted with when he stepped out.

Leonardo was soundly asleep. His head was on the lap of Casey Jones and a blanket was tucked around his body. Casey, not having noticed Splinter's entrance, was focused on some sort of tablet. Her voice was a soft cadence as she read aloud the words of the story.

"_They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled around tight corners," _she said in an excited whisper, not caring that her audience was enveloped in the world of dreams. One hand controlled the device, while the other ran over Leonardo's head in a gesture that reminded Splinter of someone carding fingers through hair.

It was strange to see the sight, but a nice kind of strange. April O'Neil and Casey Jones were two very different kinds of girls and yet they showed acceptance of his sons.

Perhaps it was foolish, but such actions gave Splinter hope for the future. That perhaps, one day, his boys may be allowed to walk in the sun.

Casey looked over, sensing that they weren't alone in the room. The girl had good instincts, but they needed a more training.

"Hello sir," she greeted quietly. She looked almost embarrassed at having been caught.

"Casey," greeted Splinter. He glanced at Leonardo's current position. Casey looked unrepentant.

"He fell asleep on my shoulder. So I moved him so that they we would both be more comfortable. And well the book…my mom used to do this when I was sick. I thought he would like it."

"I used to read my sons folklore from my homeland," agreed Splinter. Perhaps parents are always parents when it came to ill children. He moved down to get a better look at his eldest son. "He seems to be doing better than earlier."

"Chicken soup is good for the body," said Casey sheepishly gesturing to the tray of dishes. "I got caught up reading to him. Sorry about the mess."

"It's no concern. Leonardo's comfort is more important. He was much fussier when he was younger."

Casey laughed at that, "Really? I can see that."

"Thank you for watching over my son."

"Peace of mind is important in a fight. You can't be worrying about other things. If I could give them that peace of mind, then well I did my part."

She grinned, showing off her missing tooth, "There's always gonna be other fights."

It was a sad but true fact.

Before Splinter could respond, his other sons entered adrenaline high from tonight's bout, but also concerned for their oldest sibling.

"Is Leo alright?" immediately asked Donatello.

Casey smiled, "Fever went down when I took it at eight. He ate all of his food. So I'm taking it as a good sign. He fell asleep though and I didn't want to move him."

"Thanks, Case," said Raphael as he made his way over. "I'll take him back to bed."

"Probably for the best agreed the girl."

"Did my soup help?" asked Michelangelo with wide eyes.

"Chicken soup always help when someone is sick," said Casey wisely, standing and shaking off the pins and needles from her legs. "I think your soup helped a lot."

A bright smile crossed his face and he hugged Casey, "Thanks for watching him."

Casey, Splinter noticed, looked uncomfortable with Mikey's easy physical affection. Eventually, though, she smiled and hugged back.

"No problem. Kick a lot of butt tonight?"

"So much," said Raphael as he cautiously left the room. The sleeping Leonardo tucked safe in his arms.

"Awesome," said Casey, handing over Donatello's medical kit to the turtle. "I need to head back home. See you guys Friday. Tell Leo get well soon."

"We will be sure to pass the message on," said Splinter seriously. "Thank you for your help, Casey."

The girl blushed and looked awkward. She gave a half hearted shrug, "No big deal."

She shoved the tablet in her bag and took off, jumping over the turnstile and walking down the tunnel. A few moments later, after having tucked Leonardo into bed, Raphael took down the same direction as Casey to make sure she got home safe.

Splinter knew she could take care of herself, much like his wife could, but a part of him had his son do it for his own peace of mind.

The following week, when Leo was no longer sick, he found a gift by the door to his room.

It was a second hand book with a Post-It note on it.

'_What House do you think your brothers would be?' _was all the note read in a surprisingly elegant cursive. Leonardo looked at the title of the book: _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_.

Curious, he opened it to the first chapter, read the first line, and remembered Casey's soft voice through his fevered mind.

And he smiled.

* * *

**A/N: **The whole thing with the Hamato money and the like is something I always theorized about. So hey fanfic headcanons ahoy!

Surprisingly Casey does write in cursive in the television show and it's actually rather good cursive. Also Casey's good big sisterness can carry-over to anyone. I see her as a person starved for deeper connections and, despite a love for fighting, actually enjoying helping others. It's just herself that she can't take care of.

I hope Leo and Splinter were in character enough. It was my first time writing them.

Next up is Casey and Michelangelo's bonding time. Get ready to get groovy folks.


	8. Part Eight

**A/N: **Title comes from "Get This Party Started" by P!nk. The whole Casey knows how to waltz thing comes from my experiences in an all girls school, which I hated. Also I had to come back to my apartment because more grad school starting Monday.

Whee.

I hope I did okay with Mikey. I tried really hard to capture his voice and I think he's more insightful then he is given credit for. So I hope that both of it came across well.

Also reiteration, Casey and Raph have a platonic friendship here. It's a very close friendship but it's not going into romance.

This is also, as always, unbeta'd!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles._

* * *

**Part Eight:** _Pumping Up The Volume, Breaking Down To The Beat_

* * *

"COME ON JONES!" yelled Markowitz as Casey glided between two beefy players. He didn't need to yell at her, the asshole. God this was why she hated the new right wing on the team.

(Granted, she probably shouldn't call him new as she is also new herself, but still he is newer then her. And really he should be doing his damn job instead of telling her to hurry up.)

Casey skated and gathered up speed. Her eyes zeroed in on the opposing team's goalie. Her non-crime fighting hockey stick, Avalon, was steady in her hands.

The time was ticking down. They were tied. She had given their opponent's rover a nice black eye earlier that landed her in the penalty box. Skidding, she steadied Avalon and struck the puck.

It whistled through the air, the sharp sound of a well-hit puck. The goalie made a move to block it, but Casey's shot speed was too fast. He missed and the points were scored just before the buzzer buzzed.

"OH HELL YEAH JONES!" called Smith as he tore off his helmet and mouth guard. His hands were up in the victory position.

Casey pulled off her own helmet and grinned. Her hair stuck to her forehead and she pulled out her mouth guard, required by Coach so Markowitz was going to get a yelling at for forgetting to put his in.

"You guys need to stop doubting the awesomeness that is Casey Jones."

"You keep doing what you do Jones and we will call you Supreme Commander Awesome," promised Lukas, the goalie as he skated over. "Looks like we're definitely going to win this year."

Casey laughed a bit wildly as she joined the celebrations with her team. They didn't call her the best slap shot in the city for nothing.

(And she had to admit chasing down criminals was definitely improving her game.)

She lined up with the team, because they were good sports and all, to do the traditional "good game".

The thing with being a girl in hockey, which leads to emotions and tempers and a fuck ton of macho posturing, is that then she has to put up with comments like the one the center of the other team told her.

"You know, we only let you win because you're a girl."

Casey immediately felt her mood sour. She turned and looked at him with sharp eyes. Normally, she would just tackle him to the ground and punch him in the face. Since, however, her crime-fighting career had started, she was making a legitimate effort in not beating up every person who pissed her off.

"Still a girl who kicked your boy's ass. And who can kick yours any day of the week, tough guy," she whispered dangerously. She felt a vindictive sort of glee when the center jerked back sharply.

Tch. Coward.

Casey skated off the ice, in a definitively bad mood despite her team's win.

"Casey!"

"Red," said Casey with a slight grin, trying to beat her sudden bad mood.

"You were amazing! I can't…that was great!" gushed April excitedly. Her cheeks were flushed and it was actually rather adorable.

"I think I heard you cursing out the ref once or twice, Red," said Casey, feeling her bad mood lift slightly. "I was proud."

"He was an idiot."

Casey laughed, "Well let me go shower and change. Then you and me can blow this Popsicle stand and go see the boys."

"Sounds good. Are you sure?"

"Yeah. The guys usually do something after but they don't need me for it."

She and the team had a strange relationship. They liked each other well enough, but Casey hadn't made a lot of friends. It was more of a say hi to each other in the halls kind of thing. She didn't know if it was because she was a girl or something else. They watched her back on the ice and she did the same for them, but that was pretty much it.

"Alright," said April with a knowing smirk. "Raph would probably want to hear about your fight on the ice anyway."

"I do tend to weave a good story don't I?" asked Casey dusting herself off. She then noticed the smirk, "Wait…you don't think that Raph and I are…"

"Well," said April suddenly looking a bit nervous, "You two spend a lot of time together and stuff. Plus you both go off on your own and…Casey? Casey why are you laughing? There is nothing wrong with Raphael!"

Casey was bent over clutching her stomach and cracking up. Because that? That was the funniest thing she heard all day. Look Casey will admit, quite happily, that Raphael was very attractive: the muscles and those bright green eyes. She flirted with him outrageously and made him watching teen rom-coms and sports movies with her. They also tended to hang out in his room (with the door open) when she was over.

But dating him?

"Course not, Red," said Casey trying to stifle her laughter. "But it's just kind of silly. Raph and I are so much alike. We'd probably kill each other within the week. He and I are just friends. He needs like a sounding board for his thoughts and then afterwards we watch my Netflix. Actually outside of you, Raph is probably my best girlfriend."

April's eyes went wide at that. She bit her lip and tried to stifle her own laughter.

"I will pay you to tell him that."

"Easy. Money. Red," said Casey with a wink. "Now let me go get changed."

Michelangelo was SOOOOOO boooooooored.

Like, he was pretty sure that if you could die of boredom or something then he would be dead and zombified from it already. There hasn't been anything to do but train and hang out for days and days.

Plus, everyone was too busy to come and hang out with him. It really sucked.

Leo was on some meditation kick lately (or maybe he was just thinking about Karai Mikey wasn't so sure). Donnie and April were doing some kind of experiments with the retro-mutagen and after the Shellacne Incident, he wasn't allowed to help with that. Raph had been trying to learn the drums lately. Mikey could hear him practice when he walked pass the door and hey whatever kept Raph's temper down was good for them. Plus he and Casey were hanging out a lot, except this past week when Casey was in practice for a big hockey match.

Mikey sighed and considered the rather empty Lair from his headstand. Headstands were awesome and way more meditative then actual meditation. Except when the blood rushed to your head to where everything kind of swirled together. Then, they weren't that fun because he got dizzy afterwards.

Still though, when he wanted to considered the world and everything. It was better to do so from a new perspective.

What he could admit, from his headstand mediation, was that he was feeling a little bit lonely. But he didn't really want his brothers' company. It wasn't that he didn't love his brothers and everything because he did. They were his bros, but he still wanted to hang out with someone other than them.

He could see if April or Casey wanted to do something with him when either of them came down. April was a lot of fun when you could convince her to cut loose. Mikey, because of all the awkwardness between Leo and Casey, didn't know the other girl all that well but she took super great care of Leo when he was sick.

Though he didn't understand when one day, awhile after Leo was all better, Casey had come into the Lair and Leo had marched up to her with a serious expression on his face. Casey had raised her eyebrow and Leo simply said, "I'm Slytherin. Raph is Gryffindor. Mikey is Hufflepuff. Donnie is Ravenclaw. You?"

Casey shrugged but smirked, "Hufflepuff."

"Seriously?" asked Leo with a perplexed look on his face.

"I'm deeply loyal and you know how freaking hard I work to be this awesome?" teased Casey with a grin. "Do you want to borrow the second book?"

"Please."

Mikey didn't know what a Hufflepuff was, but if he and Casey both were one then clearly they could like bond over it.

He crossed his legs and steadied himself. His arms were getting tired.

"Hello?" April called as the turnstile pushed down with a click.

Mikey kept quiet. Internally though, he started counting down in his head, '_Five. Four. Three. Two…'_

"April!" called Donnie bursting out of the lab. He was covered in a layer of soot, and where that came from Mikey couldn't even start to speculate. His tallest brother was practically vibrating in excitement.

"Come on! I have something I need to show you," he said cheerfully. April brightened, thinking that it had something to do with the retro-mutagen. Mikey was sure that it had or it could be something involved with engineering. It was hard to tell with Donnie sometime.

They both disappeared inside Don's lab when Mikey heard a voice call out, "Yes hello to you to you too, Doc. I'm lovely thanks for asking. No. I couldn't possibly have tea."

Casey landed quietly on the floor, using her preferred entrance of vaulting over the turnstile.

Mikey laughed from his spot against the wall. The other girl blinked and looked over with a quizzical look.

"Hey Mikey," she greeted. Mikey had stopped that 'Michelangelo' stuff after Casey and Leo were on better terms. "What are you doing?"

"Meditating," said Mikey simply. Casey tilted her head as far as it could go to the side, almost as if she could turn Mikey right side up that way.

"Really?"

"Well I find it relaxing," said Mikey as he kicked off the wall and rolled into a sitting position. He steadied himself for a moment because well the blood rush is always a bit killer.

"Whatever works, man," said Casey with a shrug. "I do yoga when I need to like zone out."

"Seriously?" It somehow seemed to be not like the girl at all.

"Seriously. I need to keep limber in between hockey seasons and it's a great way to relax. Plus it's good way to release tension and shit. Plus flexibility. Do you know how heavy hockey equipment is? Really freaking heavy. So I got bullied into doing yoga and I like it. I usually do it in the off season though when I have more free time along with strength training and shit."

"Huh," said Mikey tilting his head to the side. "And meditation?"

"Was always a bit too impatient for that," said Casey before grinning. "Or I would, y'know, fall asleep. So why were you meditating, Mikey? Or is it personal?"

"You really wanna know?"

"Wouldn't have asked if I didn't wanna know."

Mikey leaned his head back and whined, "I'm sooooo borreeeed, Caseeeey."

Casey's eyebrow went up and she looked bemused.

"My little sister used to do the same thing when she was little," said the older girl with an amused look on her face. "None of your brothers are free?"

"Leo is doing like some deep intense meditation exercise with Sensei all week. Raph has been with his drum kit a lot and I don't wanna bother him because you know he'll shellac me. Donnie and April have been working on the retro-mutagen. And I've been really, really, really good but I'm soooo boooooored."

Casey looked down into Mikey's large blue eyes and felt herself crumble.

"Okay," she said with a smile. "Then it looks like me and you will have to fix that Mikey. I'll hang out with you."

"You will?!" asked Mikey excitedly with his eyes all shiny and hopeful.

Casey felt herself smiling more, "Sure. What do you normally like doing?"

"Well I like video games and cooking and music and painting and dancing and backflips and pranks and ninjutsu. Oh! I like anime and manga, too. And comics are awesome! Whenever we good reception down here to pick up the movie channels I'll watch that. Cable is iffy if you live in a sewer. We only get a couple channels really clear consistently."

Well that answered Casey's questions about the lack of pop culture in their lives.

"What kind of movies do you like Mikey?"

"Oh! Lots of stuff. Scary movies even though they give me nightmares and I'll end up sleeping with Raph. He gets annoyed but he lets me do it anyway. And um I like stuff with explosions in it and comedies are great. But I really like those movies with the ladies in the long gowns and the guys dance them around the floor."

"Old school musicals?"

"Yeah! They're just…I don't know super glamorous and stuff. And there's something really graceful in their movements," said Mikey with a shrug. "I always wanted to learn how to dance like that but no one wanted to learn or figure it out with me. We got into breakdancing and stuff though."

"But you still want to learn ballroom," asked Casey simply. She had a feeling about what she would end up doing. "I could teach you."

"What?"

"Ballroom," said Casey, who suddenly looked embarrassed. "I went to a private all girls school before I switched over to a public high school. The Sisters of the Sacred Heart thought that every proper young lady should know how to dance. So we had like a month and a half where are gym classes were ballroom lessons from like fifth to eighth grade. I think it continues in the high school section but I was gone by then."

Casey stood, feeling a bit embarrassed. These brothers and April had a way of getting under her skin like no one else did before. She wasn't sure if she liked it or what it meant.

It could mean a lot of things. She just wasn't sure what.

"You would do that?" asked Mikey breathlessly. "Really?"

"I haven't done it in years, but for the money my parents were paying it should be like riding a bicycle," said Casey as she trudged up memories of those awkward weeks. She usually had to do the lead part, but she could probably do it the other way. It was just backwards. Or she could just lead Mikey. He probably wouldn't know the difference.

Maybe. Who knows?

"Awesome!" said Mikey as he ran and hugged her.

Casey felt herself melt a bit. Mikey's hugs were kind of amazing. She's only had one or two before, but they were nice. It felt like warmth and positivity were hugging her when he did.

They were nice hugs is what she meant here. Shit, she knew that Mikey and the brothers' situation wasn't the best. It kind of pissed her off that they couldn't go to school or have friends or stuff like that. Mikey, she could tell, was the type that thrived on people and on contact. He was a classic extrovert if she ever saw one. So it must suck to be locked away from the world for being different.

Mikey, though, was the type of person who never let anything get him down. He was just always himself, a bit hyperactive and happy go lucky. It was kind of inspiring to know someone like that, especially to Casey. It was like she could be a better person and stuff, too.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she followed Mikey to a clear space in the Lair. Drudging up the memories of dance lessons, she looked at Mikey seriously.

"Okay. Now you put this hand on my hip."

Whoa. She never knew someone that green could go that red that fast.

"Wh-What?" squeaked out Mikey.

"Hand on my hip," said Casey with a bemused twitch of her lips. She took one of his hands gently and placed it there.

Mikey swallowed thickly at that, "Um. Alright. Cool."

"Trust me this was weird when I had to learn it, too," soothed Casey in her own way. "I had to learn the lead part 'cause I was tall and shit."

"Was that the only reason?"

"Only reason the sisters gave," said Casey as she rested her hand on Mikey's shoulder. Her free hand read down and grabbed his. It took a moment for them to get a comfortable grip with each other. "I never believed them though. But then again I never liked them that much and the feeling was mutual. Okay now you step forward with that foot and I'll take a step back."

Mikey stepped forward as Casey stepped back.

"Why didn't they like you?"

"I wasn't ladylike enough for them or something stupid like that," said Casey absentmindedly as she self-corrected their posture. "I fought with the other students and was a bit disruptive in class. I could never sit still or cross my legs properly and I always had skinned knees. They never liked my lipstick either. I got out of there as soon as I could. I was never going to be their definition of a lady."

Mikey looked thoughtful at that. His tongue peeked from his mouth as he and Casey tried a couple of fumbling steps together. Internally, she was wondering how she could just spill her guts like this to them.

Maybe it's because she knew that they would never judge her, knowing what it's like to already be judged before people got to know them. Maybe some part of her just trusted them, a gut feeling like she had when she met April.

It was still strange.

"I think they're dumb," said Mikey simply. "And I like your lipstick. I don't know why humans were make-up but it's pretty."

Casey's mouth twitched upward, "Thanks. And well a lot of people are dumb like that. Thinking only a lady means a specific thing."

"You don't?"

"Ah man," said Casey with an embarrassed flush to her cheeks. "I'm not nearly smart enough to have this conversation. But the way I see it is that people should just make the definition themselves about what makes a lady or gentleman or stuff like that. I know I'm a woman and that I'm fluid. S'weird how free flowing it is sometimes, but a good weird. I make the definition and screw what society says, y'know? But they still say it."

She paused at that both in her talking and in her dance steps. Mikey also paused and looked at her.

"Just sucks is all that people use their dumb definitions to say what can or can't be done. Happens to me all the time and it's annoying as hell."

The two of them stood there in silence for a second before dancing. Mikey was already getting bored with the stodgy steps of the waltz. Casey kept forgetting what came next. So Mikey started spinning her around and they began to make up their own steps to no music.

"This is boring without tunes," said Mikey suddenly. "Hang on! I'll go get some pumping."

Mikey decided that he liked Casey a lot. It wasn't like in a romantic way. (Mikey was pretty sure that Raph and Casey were a couple. But he didn't dare tease his brother the way they would Donnie. Mainly because Mikey wanted to live to see another pizza.)

No. He liked Casey because when Casey talked to him, she talked to him like she trusted that he would get it. Not a lot of people would talk to him like that. It wasn't that Mikey was dumb. His mind just wandered a lot and sometimes, unless he was really interested or it was REALLY important, his mind would just go off on its own. It was frustrating to him when he let it be frustrating.

But he didn't have to be a brainiest like Donnie or a strategist like Leo or the muscle like Raph; he just had to be himself with whatever that entailed. Sometimes it was cause for pranks and sometimes it was staying back.

Still, Casey talked to him like he would get what she was saying. And he kind of did. People are always going to judge you based on what they think about the world. It really sucks.

Mikey grabbed the new and improved T-Pod from his desk.

At least, down here, he likes to think that everyone can be whoever they want to be.

No judgment and good vibes is what he wants to put out into the world when he can. It's with the childish hope that maybe, just maybe, the world can give it back one day.

April paused in the work that she was doing with Donnie.

"Do you hear that?" she asked suddenly.

She could swear she heard a shriek of laughter and the tinkle of piano keys.

Donnie froze over the microscope and tilted his head to the side.

"Yeah I hear it, too," he said. He walked to the door. "Maybe it's Mikey?"

"Wouldn't hurt to check out," said April, having picked up some extra caution.

"Good idea."

The two of them peered out of the door. April nearly went for the camera at the sight in front of her.

Mikey and Casey were dancing around the living room to a Matt and Kim song. It seemed to involve a lot of spinning, some horrible attempts to head banging, and occasionally going into an over the top tango. Casey dipped Mikey with a surprising amount of grace.

It was actually rather joyful. Much more joyful then Casey looked after the hockey game; April had a feeling one of those assholes said something to her. Looks like Mikey's own special brand of magic seemed to cheer her right up.

Mikey looked over into their direction and April knew they were spotted.

"Appppeee-rrrrillll, Dooooonnnnnnnieeeee," called Mikey elongating their names. He ran over excitedly and without even asking, dragged them to the makeshift dance floor.

Casey grabbed her hand in an instant and spun her. April laughed, "You are so weird, Jones."

"Awww come on, Red. Let's dance," said Casey simply. "All the stuff will be there after a few songs but at least you and Doc will be smiling more."

April had to admit that Casey may have a point. She will help get her Dad back, but for now? He would say that even the greats had a break once in awhile and dancing with friends definitely counts.

So she spun like a little girl laughing and singing along to a song with the only word she could understand being 'daylight'. She heard Donnie sigh but give in and soon they were tossing her into the air and catching her.

At some point, Raph and Leo had joined them. The noise and laughter coaxed them from their solitary activities.

It was silly to dance like so to the songs with random spins and no real moves to speak of.

But the laughter and the warmth that flooded the air made it feel like everything would work out in the end.

As she glanced over at the thrilled Mikey, who had grabbed Casey and tossed her up, she had to admit that sometimes he was pretty brilliant.

He was cheering just one person up, but had inadvertently cheered them all up. He did it without them even knowing they needed it.

That was definitely a kind of awesome all on its own.

"Come on Red! Spin!"

And April spun, feeling all of five years old and like everything may turn out just fine.

* * *

**A/N: **The song that they are dancing to is Daylight by Matt and Kim. Here's a link: watch?v=WgBeu3FVi60 It seemed like a song Mikey would listen to.

I asked a friend who plays hockey, not like pro-level or anything, and he said he does yoga in the off-season to keep limber along with strength training.

Also yes Leo is Slytherin and self-aware enough for it. He's a cunning guy. Raph is Gryffindor because it was that or Hufflepuff but I felt like Mikey made a better Hufflepuff. Donnie was so totally Ravenclaw that it's not even funny. Also I don't remember how to waltz but I can do dorky dancing juuuust fine, which is how it usually ends for me when I reattempt it.

Next up is the Donatello and Casey bonding time.


	9. Part Nine

**A/N: **Title comes from P!nk's "Raise Your Glass". Sorry the update took forever, I'm back at school. So updates are going to be slow going unfortunately.

And yes the pairing will eventually be Donnie and Casey. It's still awhile off. Casey takes awhile to fall for people and Donnie is still crushing on April.

This is, as always, unbeta'd.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_.

* * *

**Part Nine:**_Dirty Little Freaks_

* * *

When Casey Jones was nine years old, she caught the attention of a bully.

Now, it may come as a surprise to most people that Casey Jones was bullied once. Most people seem to think that at one time or another, she was a bully. Which is the exact opposite of the truth and is kind of offensive, Casey (despite her rough nature) was a very caring person and would protect others over seeing them hurt. It was a good reason she got into fights a lot.

Casey could handle that type of bullying, even as a young girl she was scrapper: biting, clawing, punching, and kicking to win the fight.

Most of the time? She won the hell out of those fights.

But that is a different type of story in those early years when Casey played pee-wee soccer and was the only girl in her youth hockey league (and still had to take figure skating lessons).

The point was that when Casey was nine years old, she had herself a bully.

Alison Ann Abernathy was a triple alliteration of little girl meanness rolled into a pretty, popular small child with big brown eyes, perfect brown curls, and a cute button nose. From kindergarten until grade three, Casey had gone unnoticed by Alison Ann and her little posse. They found other targets to hone their skills on: girls who were either transferred schools or endured it and made sure that they were placed in the opposite class the next year.

But somewhere between the end of second grade and the beginning of third, Alison Ann had decided that Casey Jones was her next target. Even at age nine, the students of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart knew that Casey was different compared to everyone else. She was a loner, quiet, didn't participate much, was in the slow reading group, and was more interested in hockey stats then Mary-Kate and Ashley. She was the tallest girl in class and gangly with long, almost perpetually tangled blonde hair (to the exasperation of her mother) in ponytail down her back. She was different from the other girls in class and no one really knew what to do with her.

Alison Ann decided that could not stand.

So she did what little girl bullies did best: she unleashed psychological warfare upon Casey Jones. Not that Casey really realized it at the time. Understanding people came at a later date.

Alison Ann and her little friends started playing a game they called 'The Ignoring Game' with Casey. Basically, what they did was convince everyone in the class that it would be good fun to just ignore Casey, to act like she never said anything when she did speak and to pretend that she wasn't there.

Casey, always a loner by nature, didn't really notice it until two months in. Suddenly she realized that no one, outside of the teachers or sisters, had talked to her in months.

It was a strange and confusing feeling for the nine year old. She tried talking to the other girls after that but they ignored her. In fact, every time she opened her mouth to speak Alison Ann and her friends would start giggling.

Casey knew that she didn't speak so well, much to the annoyance of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart. She slurred her words and talked more like the boys from her youth sports programs then the girls. But she didn't think it was that bad.

She almost punched Alison Ann in her stupid face several times, but stopped herself. Her mom wouldn't be too happy if she got herself suspended over something so trivial.

So Casey just stopped talking at school. It was no big deal, not like she had anything to say to them anyway. She just took out all her pent up aggression in sports and tried to ignore Alison Ann.

Except ignoring Alison Ann was the exact opposite of what she was supposed to be doing. The girl upped her game after that calling her "freak" and "loser" and "trailer trash", which made no sense. Casey never lived in a trailer. She called Casey "ugly" and "big nosed" and said that she shouldn't be here since she wasn't a girl.

And the thing is, the thing always is, after awhile of hearing these things constantly you start to believe it. Casey began to believe that she was a freak and a loser and ugly, that she wasn't anything special in the end.

Those things tattoo themselves on deeper levels and hurt more than an actual tattoo ever will.

But, even though they tattooed themselves invisibly on her, Casey continued to put up the pretense of ignoring Alison Ann until the end of the year. The damage was done but she wouldn't let her show it.

And, during the summer, she broke Alison Ann's perfect nose when they ran into each other on the playground. Alison Ann didn't come back to Sisters of the Sacred Heart for fourth grade.

Yet, part of the damage was done.

It took the death of her mother and a discovery of a tube of red lipstick for Casey to believe that she was pretty. Fuck what anyone said, Casey Jones was beautiful and not "in her own way" or anything. She was just beautiful. Period.

It took even longer to believe the front she put up about being awesome.

But she kind of became proud of the "freak" label in her own way. She was a freak. She was fine being a freak. She liked being a freak if it meant that she could be herself.

The freaks, Casey believed, were the ones who could change the world and bring about something great. They were the ones who were special. They were the ones who affected the world.

So Casey was proud being a freak. By being her freaky self, Casey became her own kind of superhero, met mutants, protected the city, and finally found something that she could do with her life. She embraced her label proudly.

Of course, looking at Donnie's door, she knew that some people may take more offense to the label then she would.

"So why am I here again? And not Red? She and Donnie are better friends," Casey asked Raph with a raised eyebrow. She had gotten several text messages from each of the brothers that said that Donnie was upset and that they needed her to talk with him.

"April and her aunt went to Boston to visit family. She's incommunicado on the order of her aunt because of family time," Leo said, looking at the door nervously. "And we all tried talking with him. So maybe you could?"

Casey looked at tall their worried faces and sighed.

"So you have no idea why he's so bummed?"

"None. It was a normal enough night, you know? We were fighting some Purple Dragons and Foot Bots last night. Then Rahzar and Fishface showed up and it was real party after that. We kicked major butt and got away, but Donnie was like really depressed after," said Mikey with a simple nod at the end of his story.

Casey sucked into a breath through her teeth, "Alright. I'll try but no promises."

"Just try to convince him to eat something," said Leo softly. Raph just crossed his arms and tried not to look concerned. Mikey had no such qualms on the matter and looked worried.

Casey grabbed the blocking glove that held Electra, her homemade Taser, within from the pile of her equipment that she kept at the Lair. She also grabbed her messenger bag that she brought with her when she got the text.

She took a deep breath and strode right into the Donatello's lab.

"Hey Doc," called Casey cheerfully, looking over his hunched form. "I need your help with something."

"What do you want, Jones?" snapped the turtle from his station. Casey ignored it and pressed on.

"Well," she said collapsing into a seat, "it's Electra. I think I need to update her to make her kind of safer so I don't accidentally electrocute myself. 'Cause that would totally blow monkey chunks if I accidentally electrocute myself when fighting against the bad guys and chunk. Ruin my cred more likely. So like, since you're the smartest guy I know maybe you could help me figure out how to make it safer or something? I'm sure your going dizzy looking at all this stuff and it should be an easy problem. Smart guy like you and all that."

"Are you making fun of me, Jones?" asked Donatello with a harsh look.

Casey could feel her eyebrow quirk up at the sudden bite and tiredness in his voice.

"Nah man," she said easily. "I would never make fun of your brains. S'better to be smart in my opinion. Smart's the new sexy."

Donnie's face darkened at that. "If you're going to make fun of me you can just leave, alright? Go see Raph or something."

"No," said Casey feeling a sudden wave of stubbornness. Outside of Leo's orders when she joined them on patrol, she really hated being told what to do. Now she was just going to be contrary until Donatello told her what was wrong.

"No?" asked Donatello, looking a bit dumbfounded.

"No," she said, crossing her arms for good measure. "I'm not making fun of you and I'm not leaving."

Donatello stared at Casey.

Casey stared at Donatello.

"Really?"

Casey felt a bit wounded at that.

"Really Donatello. Jesus Christ do you think I would come in her and make of fun of you?" she asked, sounding annoyed. "Do you really think I think so little of you? I just wanted help with Electra, but if y…"

"I'm sorry," blurted out Donatello, looking simultaneously tired and conflicted with a bit of contriteness thrown in for good measure. "I…I've been having just had a bad week. I didn't mean to get angry with you like that."

Casey crossed her legs and frowned. Normally, she just would have left or punched in the jaw. But none of those things will help the current situation at hand. Casey refocused on her task at hand.

"Why are you being so down on yourself?"

"It's stupid," mumbled Donatello as he turned his back to her, going to a shelf of odds and ends. "Let me see your taser."

"Electra," corrected Casey, but handed the glove over all the same.

"Why do you name your weapons?" asked Donatello. "It seems kind of weird."

"Raph named his fists," she said simply as if it explained everything. "Besides I'm a weird person. And if I'm going to go into battle with my wits and weapons, then dammit I'm naming those suckers. Better to know who I am fighting with then not at all. It helps in its own way to name them."

She shrugged and looked over Donatello's shoulder curiously. He was carefully unloading the mechanism.

"This is actually rather clever," he admitted after several moments. "I can work with this to make it better."

"S'why I brought it to you, Doc," said Casey sweetly. She watched him work in silence for several moments.

She bit her lower lip gently and decided a direct approach was the best approach.

"So why are were you so upset?"

Donatello knew that question was coming. He supposed he could be glad that it was Casey asking it rather than his brothers, his father, or, God forbid, April.

He was really glad that April wasn't asking the question.

"Why are you asking?"

"Cause your brothers are worried about you," said Casey in her usual blunt manner. "I don't do this emotional stuff so good. But I'm not so bad to talk with I guess. You don't gotta tell me or anythin', Doc. Sometimes, though, it feels good to tell someone you don't so well is what I'm sayin'."

"Did it ever help for you?" asked Donnie, considering the girl. Casey tended to shorten her words when she was embarrassed.

He could admit that he didn't know the other girl well. Despite their closeness with April, they never really interacted all that much to be honest. She usually ended up hanging out with Raph or someone.

He knew that Mikey thought Raph and Casey were dating, but honestly Donnie didn't see it all that much. Or maybe Donnie was just cynical or just mean. He was never going to get April, so why should Raph have Casey?

"_You think this will help? Saving humans who are ungrateful," breathed Rahzar into Donnie's ear. "We're all freaks. But none more so then you and your brothers. At least the fish and I were human first. You all will never be accepted." _

Donnie shook his head from the memory that had been plaguing him. He sighed and looked fully at Casey, who had been considering her answer.

"Not really," said Casey simply. "But I wouldn't recommend doing what I did to feel better."

"Do you think we're freaks?" asked Donnie suddenly.

Casey's back stiffened. Her wine red lips were pulled into a frown suddenly and her expression looked dark. Her coal hair fell into her dark brown eyes and she radiated anger.

"Someone call you that, Doc?" she asked, suddenly looking dangerous. "Is that why you're so out of it? Someone call you a freak?"

"Yeah," admitted Donnie suddenly. He felt a bit disarmed at the apparent righteous anger on her face that, even though they didn't know each other that well, she still cared that someone had hurt him.

"Well they're fucking morons," Casey said decisively. "Fucking morons who don't know shit. Look here, Doc. You ain't less of a freak then me."

"I'm an almost five foot ten talking turtle who lives in the sewers and builds all this stuff with spare parts from the dump. I fight mutants, thugs, and evil ninjas with ninjutsu and a bo-staff," Donnie stated simply.

It was the truth.

He was a freak. Their entire existence thrived on not being normal and was a constant reminder that they would probably spend forever down there, in the dark and away from people.

Casey blinked at him for a moment. She leaned back and her hazel-brown eyes considered him carefully.

Donnie could appreciate that about Casey. She may be brash and impulsive sometimes. Always the first one into a fight with Raph and the last one to give up, but, for the most part, she usually considered her words before speaking.

"Yeah and I'm a six foot pansexual androgynous female who plays ice hockey, gets into fights, and needs like extensive tutoring to pass Trig. I've always been a freak to people. And fuck them I embrace it with pride. I own my freakiness," she looked strong and her voice was like steel. It was almost comforting to hear. "But I've been called other things too and I know how words can stay with you. It took me a long time to realize a lot of things about myself, Donnie."

Casey stepped forward and took his hand in hers. Donnie tried to catalogue the differences between Casey's hand and April's hand. Casey's hand was rougher. There were more scars and the nails were bitten down the quick. Her left hand was covered with smears of ink due to it being her dominant hand. Her knuckles were a bit scarred, probably from fights. It was larger than April's hand in his, filled with a different kind of strength.

It still had five fingers though, not three large ones. It was still soft and pink. It remained uncovered in scales.

Casey squeezed his hand gently.

"Hey," she whispered.

Donnie's eyes snapped up. Casey smiled in an almost sweet kind of way. Her dark hair fell into her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she began. "I'm sorry that people suck so damn much, Donnie. I won't lie to you and say that one thing everything will be magically alright, you know? It won't be. There will always be people who hate and discriminate and judge. There will always be injustice, prejudice, and bullies. But…if you let them get inside that big brain of yours? You're lettin' them win. You are so much more then your appearance, Donnie. You and your brothers are so much more then…the outer you know?"

She bit her lip and blushed, unused to this kind of talk. Casey seemed to gather herself though, looking into his eyes.

"Not that the outer is all that bad. I'm just an incorrigible flirt, but I think you and your brothers are all pretty attractive. I mean in a general sense, not just in because you're mutant turtles sense. But the outer, well that's just surface shit. Donatello you are the smartest guy I've ever, ever known. You can change the world with that mind of yours. You use it to help your family. You're stubborn and determined and smart and kind and neurotic and just totally awesome. Alright? Fuck those people who only see the surface, just fuck them. Because you will meet those people who see _**you**_. April, me, and that guy who runs the restaurant…."

"Mister Murakami," piped up Donnie absentmindedly, not wanting to interrupt the speech but doing so out of habit.

Casey continued, "We know who you are. You as a person because you are still a person, Doc. You're our friend. You're a brother, a son, an inventor, a scientist, a ninja, and just a great a guy. So fuck what Rahzar says. He's a bully and when he was human he made shitty movies and became an Internet meme."

Donnie looked into her eyes.

Casey looked defiantly back.

Donnie had to give it to her, she certainly knew how to give a pep talk for someone who didn't seem to invested in emotional moments. It was like Raph in that way.

He gently squeezed her hand, enjoying the weight and pressure in his own.

"You know what, Casey?"

"What?"

He pulled the taller girl into a gentle hug, "If anyone tells you you're stupid, then they're an idiot."

Casey laughed a bit, "Thanks Doc."

She leaned down and hugged back. Donatello closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of soap and something musky. It was a comforting kind of smell.

They stood like this for a while until Donatello pulled back.

Casey smiled and was pleased to see him looking so much better then when she came in.

"Come on Donatello," she said tugging his hand gently. "Let's get you something to eat first."

"But," he began looking back, "Electra."

"She'll still be there," assured Casey with a bright smile. "Food first. Leo is going to give you some epic mother-henning, Donatello."

"Donnie," said the turtle suddenly. "Or Doc."

"Huh?"

"I like it when you call me Donnie or Doc. You're our friend, too."

Casey smiled at that and winked.

"It's going to be hard as hell getting rid of the awesome of Casey Jones. Now food!"

She tugged him forward, out into a crowd of worried brothers. The two of them walked out hand in hand, neither of them noticing it. And they kept holding their hands, until Mikey finally swept Donnie into a hug of his own.

Casey blew out a piece of hair from her eyes and watched the brothers fondly.

They all my be freaks, but they were each others freaks.

And if there was anyway Casey could give them the world, then she and April would make it happen.

* * *

**A/N: **And that brings an end to Casey and the Turtles individual bonding stories. It was fun writing those.

There is probably going to be like a smaller story or two before I start writing up the Glitter Verse's take on "Fungus Humungous". Side note, the fears are going to be different from the show for the episode. Except Leo.

I kind of want to do one with Casey and Splinter.


	10. Part Ten

**A/N: **Title comes from P!nk's "Are We All We Are".

I really wanted to do a piece between Splinter and Casey. They have zero interaction together in most continuities that I know of. So it was fun writing this.

It's also a bit more serious but well weighty things are weighty.

As always this is unbeta'd.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles._

* * *

**Part Ten:**

* * *

Hamato Yoshi, currently known as Splinter, stood before the small homemade altar to his wife that was kept in the dojo.

Carefully, he lit the incense and bowed his head. Ever since his sons, their sons for she was their mother in spirit, had begun to fight greater enemies then he had ever anticipated, Splinter made sure to ask for Tang Shen's protection.

Despite the odd circumstances of the family and the tragic circumstances regarding Miwa, he would like to think in another life, a different life, that Tang Shen would have loved their sons. He had tried his best and yet, as all fathers often do, Splinter worried that he will…

He shook his head to banish such thoughts. Once his sons leave, he will meditate until they return.

Or, he will make the attempt to meditate. Some nights it works better then others.

A gentle knock on the door disturbed Splinter from his thoughts. He had heard her coming and her scent had drifted in before she knocked.

He turned still to greet the girl.

Casey Jones stood in the doorway. She was carefully toeing off the sneakers that she preferred for the combat. Her weapons of choice laid by the door as did her mask. Her face remained unpainted, but the girl often vacillated between wearing the make-up or not.

She carefully left her sneakers by the door, surprising Splinter. Eastern customs were not that well known in the West. He didn't let it show, but Casey rubbed the back of her neck.

"I took karate when I was a kid. I can, at least, remember that. Sensei made sure that was drilled into us," she explained awkwardly. "I've never been in here before."

The teenager took a step forward and looked around the room.

"You are more than welcome to come in here."

"Oh," said Casey suddenly and blushed. "I didn't want to interrupt anything. I'm not really a ninja. Besides this always struck me more as a family place."

She rubbed her arm awkwardly.

Splinter had to admit that it was. It was a family place, for his sons and April. But, perhaps, Casey had worked her way into the family as well.

"You studied karate?" he asked, neither confirming nor denying Casey's statement.

"Yeah," said Casey simply, walking in a bit more. "My parents signed me up when I was a kid. I did a lot of sports: soccer, figure skating, ice hockey, karate… I had a lot of energy and got angry. They thought it would help me."

"And did it?" asked Splinter, curious about his sons' new friend.

"Not particularly," she said as she ran her hand along the trunk of the tree. "Kind of obvious. I just…I was just an angry kid in the end. I guess. The man who taught it was a pretty cool old guy. He was just super patient and calm and everything. He seemed to like me a lot and I liked him, too. But he died and his son took over. Son waited until the first time I acted up and kicked me out for not being disciplined enough."

Splinter could feel the corners of his mouth tug gently into a frown. A firm hand was needed when teaching children, but so was a kind one. Patience was key even when the students took time to grasp the lessons put forth.

She was an adept fighter; if Casey were given a better chance then perhaps a different story would be told of the girl.

Casey tapped the tree thoughtfully, lost in her own thoughts. "Last I saw of the dojo, it was Chris Bradford place now or something. I guess he ended up selling it."

"I am assuming that you are not here to reminisce about the past with me, Casey," said Splinter after several quiet moments.

Casey smiled tiredly, "No. I didn't."

"Then," said Splinter, "why are you here?"

The girl bit her lip and looked down. It was clear that what she wanted to say was having a hard time making itself known. Some people, people of action like Raphael and Casey, had a more difficult time putting their actions into the correct words. It took a measure of prying and coaxing without seeming like it to get them to talk.

"Is that your wife?" asked Casey as she noticed the altar. She walked over, standing next to Splinter, and peered at the photo of Tang Shen holding Miwa.

"Yes," he said quietly. "That is my wife."

"She's very beautiful," whispered Casey quietly. Her eyes were half lidded, "She has kind eyes."

Splinter watched the girl from the corner of his eye. Her hands were shoved into pockets and he could see her fiddling with something in them.

"Tang Shen was the kindest woman I have ever known. She loved fiercely and was always willing to help those who needed it."

He saw Casey's red lips twitch upward, almost sadly, "Reminds me of my own mother. She was very, very beautiful and very, very kind. She taught me a lot. I wished I listened to her lessons more when she was still alive."

"I am sorry for your loss."

Casey blinked up at him, "I believe that you are. I used to not, you know. When most people said it sounded so fake to my ears. Like we didn't lose. She died from cancer and I spent months watching her just waste away in front of me. I watched my mom become not my mom because the medication messed with her mind. I watched her waste away and I was so…powerless. I hated that feeling more than anything in the world. "

She blinked, fiercely, as if holding back tears.

Splinter just rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. It was something that seemed to comfort the girl. At least, she didn't shrug him off.

The thing he has noticed, with Raphael and Casey Jones, was how deeply and truly they felt. And the anger, the annoyance covered up their fears that stem from the deep feelings within them.

It was, he supposed, a curse of an emotional soul.

Casey took a steadying breath, "When Mom died. She left Madeline her pictures and me her jewelry. It felt weird. I couldn't really wear it. I was never a jewelry type of girl. So when Madeline is old enough to appreciate it more, then I'll give it to her. I kept her wedding ring though. Dad has her engagement ring somewhere. I think he wants to give it to the first guy that comes to like ask for his blessing or something weird like that."

She bit her lip.

"But I kept the wedding ring. Normally I wear it under my clothes. It's…nice. Having it with me, it makes me feel alright. Last year, when I went off the rails, I would leave it at home somewhere safe when I went to go do things she probably wouldn't approve of. I don't know how she would feel about this but I didn't want to leave it at home."

Casey pulled out the ring from her pocket. Splinter remembered that ring from the very first night Casey had entered the Lair. How she held it and stared down Leonardo and swore to protect their secret.

He remembered her eyes and steady words: both fierce and steady yet vulnerable. She didn't want them to turn her away.

And they haven't.

It was nice, seeing a different sort of person interact with his sons. Her interactions with them provided a counterpoint to April's own, but in a good way. Casey had carefully and deftly snuck her way into his sons' hearts.

She had offered a freely given friendship to Raphael, allowing him the freedom to vent as Spike had once while also having him not internalize it. He was finding different interests of his own. They had bonded as warriors and as friends. Splinter was happy to see his son have that in his life. It was something that Raphael needed.

Casey and Leonardo respected each other. Perhaps, in time, they would become friends but, for now, they were on an even level. She respected Leonardo's command in the field and, in turn, his eldest respected Casey's choice to be here. They have also seemed to bond over some sort of book series. But anything that toned down the near constant _Space Heroes_ re-runs were a bit of a good thing in Splinter's book.

He won't begrudge his son's interests, but one does get tired of watching Captain Ryan slap semi-hysterical people.

Casey, in the way older siblings could do, was easy-going with Michelangelo's plans. She didn't mind him testing food on her or getting dragged off to play video games with him. They seemed to enjoy having fun with each other. Normally, when they were paired they were also able to coax everyone to have good time.

The instances when April joined Casey and Michelangelo's schemes to brighten up the harsh facts of life were something truly remembered.

Splinter was relatively sure the kitchen had recovered from the Brownie Batter Incident.

Finally, Casey and Donatello proved to be even more interesting counter points to each other. Both of them utilized gadgets to some extent in their fighting. Though Donatello's had a greater range and required strategic planning, Casey's were easier to put together on the fly. Donatello had been impressed with the taser rig the girl had come up with. It was rare for others (outside of April) to impress his son so easily. The two of them seemed though to have a steady relationship with each other. And it did his smartest child good, Splinter decided, to have people outside of the family to accept him unconditionally.

A father knows his children. Splinter knew that, out of all of them, Donatello was the most affected by their mutant status. His great mind was both a gift and curse in many regards.

The changes in his sons that had appeared since April and Casey have come into their lives were good ones, positive ones. They were changes needed for them to become the best ninja that they can be.

And it also allowed them to be children in the moments that calm ruled and his sons could just be the youth they were.

Splinter had a lot to thank both girls for.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he saw Casey move.

Casey had turned to face him. They were quite nearly eye-to-eye as the teenager was quite tall for her age. There was a light blush on her face and she was struggling to keep her eye contact with him.

Still she looked at Splinter, assessing him seemingly.

Then she held the chain with her mother's wedding ring before him.

He looked at her in askance. Casey lost the battle to keep her eyes on his face and glanced down.

"I don't want to have to keep worrying about it when I fight. Someone could grab it or something, rip it off, could fall out of my pocket…I don't have a lot of my mother. I mean I have the memories and stuff, but not a lot of material things. And it's fine. I'm not a material person. This though? This is important. I don't wanna lose it. So I was wondering if you would keep an eye on it when I go off with the guys, keep it safe."

"You trust me with this?" asked Splinter gently. He was touched by such a gesture of trust from the newest member to their group.

"Of course I do," said Casey with a surprisingly amount of intensity.

Splinter solemnly took the chain that held the simple wedding ring from her. Carefully, he placed it next to the picture of his past life with his wife and daughter.

Casey swallowed thickly, "Promise me though. If something happens to me that you'll take it to my family, make sure that my sister gets it."

The statement was simple. The waver in her voice was a giveaway, attesting to the fact that Casey knew she was involved in dangerous work. That there was a chance her luck would run out and something could happen to her.

Splinter thought of Timothy in the tank barely human and barely sentient, the knowledge of their being some fates even worse than death.

How lucky he was to escape such a thing with his sons.

"I give my most solemn vow," said Splinter quietly, "I will make sure your request is fulfilled."

Casey looked up and nodded.

"Thank you, Splinter," she said and bowed neatly at the waist.

The boys, in the distance, were calling for her to come on already.

The girl turned to leave.

"Casey?"

"Yes?" she asked, turning to look at him.

"The dojo is for family," said Splinter gently. "And I understand you have commitments to your hockey team but, barring games, on Sundays and Wednesdays I expect you to join us for practice."

The girl blinked in surprise.

"Uh…"

"You are part of this family as well, Miss Jones," said Splinter with a half smile on his face.

Casey stared at him with wide eyes and then she smiled brightly, "Yeah. Yeah. Alright…yeah. I'll be there."

"Good. Now I believe my sons are getting impatient."

Casey nodded and ran off, toeing her shoes back on quickly.

In the distance, Splinter could hear everyone call out their goodbyes to head out for the night.

He sighed, in the worried yet indulgent way of fathers, and glanced at the altar. He hoped that somehow the spirits of the mothers of all the children would watch over them tonight.

And every night following until their work was finally done.

* * *

**A/N: **Alright next up will either be a very short story or we go for the "Fungus Humungous" Glitter Verse version.

Maybe a short one. I kind of want to build up some more of the Casey/Donnie aspect of the series. Not a lot but just a cute little bonding story.

Because when we get to the Fungus? Oooooh that is just going to be really not fun for anyone. Bring tissues is all I'm saying.


	11. Part Eleven

**A/N:** Title comes from P!nk's "Don't Let Me Get Me". This work is, as always, unbeta'd.

Also I'm sorry. I'm not really good at writing horror or fics where my protagonists are hurt as much as they are.

Head's up though, I changed the fears that everyone had to face. So if you were annoyed by them in the episode, I assure you that they are not returning.

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles._

* * *

**Part Eleven:**_I'm My Own Worst Enemy_

* * *

"Caaaaaassssseeeeey! You gotta get up!" called Madeline impatiently.

Casey made a muffled groaning noise but rolled out of bed. She was pretty sure it wasn't a school day. There was some sort of teacher conferences or whatever and Roosevelt had the day off.

She cracked open an eye and groaned when she saw the numbers on the clock by her bed. Dragging herself out of bed, she opened the door and looked down at her sister darkly.

"_What?_" ground out Casey, looking at her sibling in annoyance.

Madeline, however, was not the least bit intimidated by her sister's morning grumpiness. Casey would almost be offended if she didn't want to go back to bed so soon.

The thirteen-year-old raised an eyebrow and flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder, "April's here for you. Dad and Linda are at work and I'm walking with Joanie to school. So I was being nice and getting you up so you're not rude to your friend."

"God Red needs to sleep in more," muttered Casey as she scrubbed a hand across her face. "Thanks Madeline. Tell her she can come back. You gonna be okay getting to school?"

Madeline nodded, clearly trying not to look nervous as she felt, "Yeah Joanie and I will watch each other's backs."

Casey smirked and tugged her sister's hair affectionately, "Good girl. Give 'em hell."

"I think that is the exact opposite of what I need to do at a Catholic school. But alright. See you later, Casey."

"Later Madeline," called the elder sibling. She ran a hand through her sleep-mussed hair trying to get it in some semblance of order.

Padding out in her bare feet, Casey walked into the kitchen where April was nervously looking out of a window.

"Morning Red. Any particular reason why you're here so early? Not that I don't love seeing your face but a girl's gotta sleep."

April looked up suddenly. Casey's loose and easy demeanor suddenly tensed at the expression on the girl's face. Her eyes were red, like she had spent most of the night crying. She looked uncomfortable and awkward.

"Red? What's wrong?" asked Casey gently. "Who do I need to go beat up?"

The red headed girl laughed wetly and ran forward into Casey's arms. Casey's arms immediately encircled her friend, hugging her close. April buried her head into Casey's shoulder.

Casey held one of her best friends' close for several moments.

"Red? What's wrong? Please you gotta tell me," whispered Casey softly.

"I-I'm…I'm half Kraang," whispered April shakily. "They did something to my mom and I'm half human and half Kraang. I'm..."

"A mutant?" questioned Casey softly.

April sniffled and rubbed her eyes.

It was times like this Casey wished she still drank. God she hoped that April didn't have a breakdown like this around the Turtles after finding it out. Casey knew, at least, how sensitive Donnie was to it. Seeing the girl he had a crush on freak out about being a mutant would not be good for anyone.

She also thought that the others would not be so thrilled that April was taking this so poorly.

"We found out last night. I just can't believe it."

"Well," said Casey slowly sitting April down at the counter and going to get some food, "at least we know why the Kraang have been going after you now, Red."

"Yeah it's just can my life get any weirder?"

"See now that you've said that it's going to get way, way weirder, Red."

April gave Casey a dirty look, but Casey merely raised an eyebrow in response. Pouring out a bowl of cereal, Casey fixed herself a cup of coffee and hopped on the counter to eat her breakfast.

Crossing her legs, she took a sip of the coffee and considered April sitting in front of her, properly at the counter. Casey sighed and settled her mug.

"Look Red," began the dark haired girl, "I'm not gonna sit here and presume like I know what you're going through. Mutated bat dad? Aliens after you? Conspiracies centered around you? Hot ninja assassins with vendetta's against you for some weird reason," counted off Casey.

"Why would you think Karai is hot?"

"Her fighting skills probably aren't the only thing that has turned Leo's head all around," said Casey simply. "Plus I asked Raph to describe her once. She sounds hot."

"OhmyGod Casey," groaned April.

Casey merely grinned unrepentantly before taking a bite of her cereal. She chewed for several seconds and swallowed, giving her enough time to pick up her train of thought.

"Like I was sayin' Red," continued the older girl, "I'm not presuming anything here. But just because you're a mutant doesn't change anything about you, April. You've been one your whole life apparently. Doesn't make you anything like the Kraang or something."

"I know!" said April forcefully. She then sighed, "Of course I know that. The problem is that it's a shock okay? I don't like the idea of them hurting my mother in any way. And it's just what if what they did to her somehow…"

Casey didn't need April to finish the thought. Putting down the cereal bowl, she leaned forward and took her hand.

"Your mom is still your mom, April. No matter what the Kraang did to her she still loved you and your dad. And if they contributed to her death then…"

"Then?"

Casey's eyes were dark when she looked up, "We'll kill them all."

April shuddered a bit, not in fear or anything, but in an emotion she didn't want to examine right now.

"Okay then."

"What are friends for?" questioned Casey as she pulled the cereal back in her lap. She went back to eating, "How did the boys handle it?"

"Mikey welcomed me to the mutant family. I mean…I got home before I had my breakdown. But it was still a shock," said April as she twisted a napkin in her hands. "I hope I didn't hurt their feelings."

"I think as long as you avoided the freak word, then it should be good. They'll understand that this is a shock."

Casey had no real doubts about that. For being raised in the sewers their whole lives, the brothers had a rather excellent grasp of empathy.

Some more so then others, but considering their whole life was basically spent with each other and their father underground, it really was impressive to consider.

"Yeah I didn't use the word," April looked slightly more relieved. "I was wondering if you wanted to head down with me? I promised that I would hang out with the guys today and…"

"No need to say more," said Casey happily. "Do you mind waiting while I take a shower and get changed?"

"Nah. Can I hang out in your room?"

"Go for it," said Casey simply. She hopped off the counter and put the empty mug and bowl into the dishwasher. "Just steer clear of my desk. I've been working on something for my gear lately."

"Thanks for the heads up," said April dryly.

Casey kissed April's cheek and winked, "Anything for you, Red."

"That is red light behavior, Jones," called April as Casey danced for her swat. Casey grabbed her clothes and a towel and bustled to the bathroom.

April walked into the darkened room and took a deep breath.

She felt slightly better about the latest curveball that has been thrown at her. It was still disconcerting to say the least. April didn't like the thought of sharing anything with the Kraang, much less something like her DNA. She didn't want to think of those pink aliens as…ugh _family_.

Of course, family is what you make of it. It still made her feel skeezy is all.

She sighed and picked her way through Casey's mess of a room. It was really amazing that the other girl could find anything at all in her, considering how disgusting it was.

April sat down on the bed and pulled a comic from the floor into her lap. At least, she had some answers about why the Kraang was so interested in her. Even though the reason was close to the last thing that she ever wanted to hear.

She sighed and tried to focus on her comic.

Sometimes, it felt like her life had gotten way too weird on her. It was starting to kind of drive her crazy.

Most days, April thought it was a miracle that she wasn't screaming in the fetal position yet.

Still, she had to look on the bright side. Donnie thought that he was getting closer to figuring out a retro-mutagen soon. She still had her health and her aunt. She had a circle of really close friends, true friends. Master Splinter said she was progressing admirably as a kunoichi.

Things, after all, could be worse.

Today, all her plans were focused on spending a nice and quiet day with the guys and Casey down at the Lair. Maybe they could swing by and pick up some junk food or something before heading down.

As if on cue, Casey came wandering back in toweling off her hair. She was dressed in her usual attire and seemed much more awake.

The other girl went over to her line of red lipstick and picked a tube at random. It was kind of fascinating, April decided, watching Casey apply her lipstick.

"What color is that?" asked April.

Casey smiled as she finished applying the shade, "Revolutionary."

"Fitting."

"You always say the sweetest things to a girl, Red," Casey said dryly. April watched as the girl shoved her lipstick, keys, phone, and wallet into her pocket. She grabbed her preferred wrist bandana and tied it on.

"Ready to go?"

"I've been ready, Jones. You need to stop sleeping in."

"It was eight in the morning, Red," complained Casey. "You need to stop being a damn morning person. Oh hey let's go to the pastry shop near the usual manhole and pick up some donuts for the guys. They just did this s'mores one and I think they may die from how delicious it is."

April smiled at that.

Yeah. Sometimes it was really good to be surrounded by people who just got you.

_"It's such a pity," purred Karai with her eyes half lidded. "You could have been someone great, Leo. But instead you're just pathetic."_

_A crack echoed a moment later, April sobbed from where she was kept with her bloodied wrists._

_She cracked her whip into the air, Casey cried out from where she was tied. "W-Why Leo? Why didn't you protect us?"_

_Leo couldn't move. He was tied against something and it felt like it was made of titanium chains. The turtle struggled against them and tried to free himself._

_"Some leader you are," said Raph with dark and judging eyes. A trickle of blood fell from his mouth as he spoke and he looked so broken._

_"You let us down, Leo," whispered Mikey judgingly. His brother was hanging, brokenly from the rafters._

_"We trusted you," cried out Donnie from behind him. A second later a scream of agony erupted from his brother. Leo tried to look but couldn't move._

_"You were leader for a reason, Leonardo," said his father with a disappointed face. "I cannot believe you have broken my faith."_

_"I'm sorry," whispered Leo brokenly. "I didn't…I was just trying…"_

_"Trying, turtle, is never enough," growled out Shredder. "It is time for you to die."_

_The steel claws got closer to his throat and..._

Leo sat up in bed immediately. He was sweating and his sheet was held close to his chest. He closed his eyes and tried to refocus his breathing.

It felt like his heart was in his throat.

"Everyone is safe," he whispered to himself quietly. "They're still alive. They're still here. Everything is fine. I haven't lost them. They're right here."

Now, if only his shaking hands believed his words, then he would be in business.

The leader sighed and rubbed his hands across his mask less face. A shower sounded like a good thing right now if he was going to get through the day. He had a special meditation session with Sensei in an hour. He needed to be as fresh as he could possibly be for it.

Sighing, Leo rolled out of bed and got to his feet.

It was another day of making sure that everyone lived to see the next.

Casey stretched out on the bench of the street that she and April preferred to use for sewer access. It was surprisingly crowded for a morning. Opening her comic book, Casey settled in while April half listened to some music on her T-phone made by Donnie.

She was telling Casey some story of her roommate days with the boys. Apparently April had lived with them briefly for a few weeks. Teenage boys, Casey had learned, were always going to be teenage boys regardless of species.

"So Mikey just has a dirty pair of underwear in his room?"

"Yep," said April as she concentrated on her game.

"Why?" asked Casey. "Does he wear it?"

"I never really thought to ask," stated April as she swiped across the screen. "Mainly because I was scared he would give me an answer."

Casey laughed at that, "It certainly sounds gnarly."

"Sister," said April simply, "You ain't see nothing yet."

Casey threw her head back and started laughing. The sun was warm on her skin, and sitting with April on the bench it felt oddly normal: two teenagers just hanging out together. It was a nice feeling.

"I'm really glad that you know the guys too, Casey," said April suddenly. "I'm glad that they're making more friends. And it's nice to have someone to share these stories with."

Casey smiled a bit, "I like learning about the guys. They're pretty cool but kind of quiet. But I like to think things are getting better."

"Joining in on training definitely helps things," agreed April.

Casey had to agree. She showed up Sunday and Wednesday prompt and ready to work hard. It took a lesson or two for Splinter to get used to her brawler style, but he was able to help her work on some of her weaker spots.

She was never going to be a ninja, but at least Casey will be able to watch everyone better in a fight. Though she did hope she would learn to throw some shuriken those things looked freaking badass.

April looked around the street with cautious blue eyes.

"Ghost is clear. Let's go see the guys."

Casey grabbed her messenger bag and pulled out her crowbar, John-Boy. April kept watched as the taller girl carefully removed the manhole cover and pushed it to the side.

April started climbing down and asked something that she had been wondering for awhile.

"Casey?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you own your own crowbar?"

"I won John-Boy in a fight last year," said Casey simply as she packed away the crowbar. "Some guys just can't handle being beaten by a girl twice in one night."

April paused at that and decided not to pursue that avenue of questioning any further. The two girls climbed down into the sewer.

Though she was growing used to the smell, Casey still covered her nose. Something new was definitely reeking down here. It was something that Casey didn't want to examine too close, but the stench was getting to her.

"What's that smell?" she asked April.

April raised an eyebrow, "I told you, Jones. The smell is just something that's down here. It is a sewer you…"

The red-haired girl then got a good whiff of the air and wrinkled her nose, "On second thought that is a very new smell."

"That's what I was telling you!"

"Let's head to the Lair. Maybe the guys noticed something going on here."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" a man's voice screamed. Casey and April were instantly on guard. The red haired girl fell into a defensive stance while Casey pulled out John-Boy. She twirled the familiar metal once and assumed a defensive stance.

An overweight sewer maintenance worker ran past the pair, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"THE DEMON SQUIRRELS ARE GOING TO EAT MY SOUUUUUUULLLLL! STOP THE DEMON SQUIRRELS!"

Casey and April watched as he ran past them, deeper into the sewer.

"Well," said Casey drily, "okay then. Demons squirrels are new."

"The guys mentioned something about mutant squirrels. But Donnie told me that they were able to get them all."

"Maybe one got away?" asked Casey as she repositioned her grip on John-Boy.

"Maybe," agreed April, wishing she had her tessen on her. Master Splinter had taken it to sharpen it for her. "We should probably get to the Lair and tell the guys."

"Good idea, Red. I feel way too vulnerable without my gear here," said Casey, echoing April's own feelings regarding the situation.

The pair cautiously made their way down the tunnel. Both were aware of the other's position but not making a noise, lest the give their location away to their unseen enemy.

It was tense, walking down the corridor of the sewer in such a way. Plus the strange smell seemed to only grow more pungent the deeper into the passage the pair went. It was almost choking April with the scent of rotted earth.

Out of the corner of her eye, April saw something move. Tensing her body like a coil ready to spring, the girl took a cautious step and peered in another pipe. A strange, electric blue glowing mushroom jumped out at her. It's yellow eyes were opened wide and before April could call for Casey, it released a cloud of mustard yellow spores into her face before disappearing.

Stumbling back, April coughed and the scent invaded her noise. Her eyes stung with the strange spores and she shuddered.

"Red?" called Casey's voice, "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," said April, rubbing her eyes. "I think I'm fine."

She turned to look at her friend and frozen.

Behind Casey a mutagen container was flying through the air. The bluish-green ooze glittered in the pale light of the sewers and the container shattered. April tried to scream, tried to warn her, but she was rooted to the spot as the girl was splattered in it.

Fear overtook April as Casey let out a horrifying scream and began to change. Her skin melted and bubbled and shifted. The crowbar in her hand became fused to her body as the muck from the sewers started to ooze at every orifice of her body. Her face disappeared under the muck as the metal twisted and bent throughout her new form.

A pair of bright, wild eyes peered from a face made from an old messenger bag stared at April with no recognition.

"Miiiiiine," croaked the mutated Casey, reaching out her metal-muck hand to April.

April screamed, loud and shrill.

Casey jumped back and stared at April.

She looked around the corridor, "Red? What the hell are you screaming for? There's nothing down here!"

"No! CASEY! NO!" screamed April as she stumbled back. She was shaking all over and Casey was confused as all hell.

"I'm not doin' anything, Red!"

But, whatever April was seeing, it was too strong for Casey to reach her. She took off like a shot running and disappearing into the darkness of the tunnel.

"Red! Wait!" called Casey with a hint of terror in her own voice.

It was too late though. April was missing.

Well _frak_, Casey was screwed. She needed to get the guys.

Leo was sincerely trying to concentrate here. He was trying to get to that place of perfect serenity and oneness with the universe. The place where one could feel all things and be apart of it.

_"Failure," whispered Raph's voice in his ear._

Leo's eyes snapped open. He looked over at his Sensei, who was radiating the perfect zen of a master. Shaking his head, Leo tried again and shut his eyes tight.

Brea-_Mikey's broken body hanging from the rafters tied up in the change of his kusarigama as Rahzar howled in the distance._

Leo's eyes snapped opened again and his breathing hitched. He shook his head as if to clear it by force. He was not going to let his fears get the best of him today.

What he needed to do was not worry about this stuff. Everyone was here. Everyone was fine. He just needed to **focus**.

Leo fixed his position and took a deep breath. He shut his eyes and just breathed, focusing on the expelling and inhaling of oxygen from his lungs. Focusing on the beat of his heart in order to feel that connection. He breathed again.

_Donnie's screams echoed throughout the room._

Dark blue eyes snapped open again.

Leo let out a groan and settled back on his feet.

"Leonardo?" asked Splinter suddenly.

Leo let out a small shriek and tumbled slightly onto the ground. He blushed and looked up at his father, who merely raised an eyebrow in question and concern.

"Sorry Sensei," said Leo from his spot. "I'm having some trouble focusing today."

"I've noticed," said Splinter kindly. "What troubles you so greatly my son?"

Leo sighed and rubbed a tired hand across his face. He wasn't going to tell his father the whole truth, but just the general gist of it. Leo did not want his father to think that he couldn't handle the responsibility given to him.

"I keep having the same nightmare, Sensei," he began carefully. "Every night I have this dream that I let the team down. Badly. They disappear into darkness and I'm…I can't move. I'm powerless to help them."

That didn't even begin to cover it. Leo wasn't going into the consequences of letting the team down that sometimes his mind supplied the aftermath of the darkness. He knew his father also had nightmares; Leo did not need to let his own dreams to feed into the ones of Splinter.

His father placed a kind hand on his shoulder. Leo instinctively leaned into the touch, needing the comfort his parent and teacher.

"This is not uncommon," assured Splinter kindly. "Every leader must face the fear of losing his team. It is a fear that is similar to the one I feel every time you and your brothers leave the Lair."

"How do I beat it, Sensei?" asked Leo in a small voice. He felt all of five years old again.

"You do not beat it, my son," said Splinter squeezing Leo's shoulder. "You face it."

It was not the answer Leo wanted to hear, but it was one that he needed.

"I think that we can wrap up our meditation session for today," said Splinter with a small smile. "I believe that April will be here soon. Knowing her, she has probably brought Casey along as well. I do not wish to keep you from your brothers and your friends. With the news April was given last night, she probably needs all of our support right now."

Leo nodded. His thoughts lifted slightly at the thought of just being a teenager for a little bit.

He bowed deeply to his Sensei, who bowed back. Leo left the dojo, though his mind was still troubled by his dreams it felt calmer then it had in awhile. He stepped out to join his brothers to watch _Super Robot Mecha Force Five!_

"GUYS!" shouted a voice through the Lair. Casey jumped the turnstile and skidded to a stop. Her eyes were wide and wild; hair in disarray, and a look of intense worry was on her face. In her hand, she held a crowbar tightly.

It spooked Leo a bit to see Casey so scared. The older girl gave off the vibe that she wasn't afraid of anything. He instantly stood on alert and picked up his pace to join the group.

"Casey?" asked Raph, standing suddenly in concern. "What's wrong?"

In a testament to Casey's athleticism, the girl was barely out of breath as she spoke.

"Red and I were walking over when a sewer worker ran by yelling about demonic squirrels? Anyway, we were on alert and making our way through the tunnels carefully. All of the sudden, Red just started freaking the hell out. When I went to go see what's wrong she started screaming and she took off down the tunnel. I lost her and came here."

"You LOST HER?" yelled Donnie semi-hysterically.

Casey glared at the tallest brother, "I came here because I figured that you could track her phone! No use for the both of us to get lost down there! I don't know the tunnels that well!"

"You did the right thing, Casey," soothed Leo. He gave Donnie a warning look when it appeared that his younger brother was going to object. "Can you take us back to where you two where?"

"We were making our way down the corner from the manhole cover that Red and I usually use," said Casey rubbing her arm.

Mikey came running out with Casey's gear, the girl took it with a grateful look.

Leo clapped a hand on Donnie's arm gently, "We'll find her. Can you see if you track the signal down here?"

Donnie glanced over at Casey, still clearly unhappy with the girl, but nodded. "It's a long shot, Leo, but I'll try."

Leo nodded and tried to ignore the feeling in his gut. He could only hope that April was all right.

April ran. Her heart thundered in her ears and her footsteps splashed with every move that she made. Tears, fresh and hot, poured down her face.

Casey was a mutant. Casey was a psychotic mutant like the Shredder's henchmen or what happened to Goo Guy or her dad. She was lost to April. She wanted to hurt April and April was going to hide.

She shuddered. It was like her worst fear come to life to see Casey go through that.

April sniffled and pressed herself against the wall. She couldn't stop shaking. She couldn't calm down her heart.

A sound caused her to jump and she turned to look the open drop.

Her dad, in his mutated form, flapped his wings before her. Saliva dripped from his fangs and he let out a loud screech.

"NO! DADDY! STOP!" screamed April backpedaling and running away with a shriek.

Casey had never felt so useless and stupid in all her life. So much for being good at this hero stuff, she lost one of the people that she swore she would protect. Maybe she could have done something more to keep April in her sights, brought the other girl with her.

But when April disappeared into darkness, Casey booked it for the boys. She knew that they could have done more together.

Casey shook her head. No use in worrying about it now. She probably shouldn't be taking Donnie's reaction all that personally. His crush with April would probably cloud his judgment from time to time.

She gripped Gretzky tighter in her hands. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing up. She didn't like the thought of April being out there alone, scared by something only she saw.

"And it only effected April?" asked Donnie again.

"Her and the worker who ran past us screaming like hell," answered Casey. "We were together the whole time, too. I have no idea what got into her so bad. One moment she was fine and the next moment she was screaming her head off."

"I wondered if she was drugged somehow."

"How?"

"I don't know," said Donnie irritably. "Nothing is making sense right now. I need more data to draw better conclusion."

"Anyone can figure it out, then it'll be Donnie," assured Mikey brightly. Though, Casey noted, he had a rather tight grip on his nunchucks. Everyone was feeling rather tensed.

It made sense to Casey, no one liked the idea of their home being invaded, even if it was just on the periphery. She had heard plenty of stories of Great Granny Jones with her shotgun protecting her land to understand it.

Casey pulled down her mask and focused. Deep breath and let the world shrink around you.

She coughed as the smell invaded her mouth. Ugh. Maybe deep breathing was not a good idea.

"There's that smell again," muttered Casey.

Raph looked up at her with a quizzical expression.

"Case? This is a sewer. There's going to be a smell."

Casey rolled her eyes under the mask, "Of course it is. But we're close. THIS particular smell was really strong where I lost April. It's not my fault you guys lost your sense of smell from living down here."

"Hey!"

"Have you smelled yourselves lately?"

The teen ninjas decided not to grace that with a response, mainly because they knew she had a point.

"Anyway," said Casey looking around, "I'm pretty sure that it was around here."

"Oh pretty sure is an accurate measurement," snarked Donnie from his position.

Casey spun around and glared at him from beneath her mask. "Hey look I know you're worried about April and all. But back off I'm not as familiar with this tunnels are you are, Doc. So stop it before I expand your tooth gap."

Donatello narrowed his eyes. Casey glared back. Both of their tempers were frayed with nerves and worry for April.

"Okay guys," said Leo seriously. "This? This is the exact opposite of helping. I will separate you two."

"Tch," muttered Casey but backed off. "The smell gets stronger up a ways. Actually I don't remember it reaching this far back."

Mikey sniffed the air and made a face. "Ugh I think I smell it, too."

"Let's move in. Be on your guard. We don't know what we're dealing with here," commanded Leo as he pulled out a katana.

Casey tightened her grip on Gretzky. This whole scenario was starting to remind her uncomfortably of every horror movie ever made.

As the guys talked about their next move, she sat down on an open drainage pipe. Most of these clothes were definitely ruined anyway, might as well just embrace it.

Pulling up her mask, Casey sighed and wrinkled her nose. She turned and raised an eyebrow.

In the cavernous pipe, there was some strange sort of mushrooms. They were glowing in the light, almost a pretty color. She leaned forward, despite possible better instincts, and jumped back slightly when one sprang to life.

Graceful as a ballerina, the mushroom twirled in the air and Casey was sprayed in the face with some sort of yellow spore.

She stumbled back out of the pipe and started coughing.

"Casey?" called Raph distantly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. What the hell was that?" asked Casey.

"What was what?" asked Leo, moving closer.

"Tha…"

She trailed off. Her heart jumped to her throat and her stomach churned unpleasantly.

"You hate me," whispered a familiar slurred and broken female voice from the pipe, "Don't you, Casey?"

Gretzky fell from her hand. "N-Nonononono. Not you. Not you. I don't…"

"Don't lie to me," demanded the voice still distant in the tunnel. "Why don't you come to see me anymore if you don't hate me?"

Casey's breath quickened and her muscles tightened. She had to get away. She had to get away. She couldn't be here. She shouldn't be here. She had to get away.

Turning, with fear evident on her face and eyes, she ran away from the demands of the voice for her to say the false words.

"CASEY!" yelled Raph, watching his best friend disappear like a scared rabbit. Casey didn't scream, but she had definitely started to freak out.

He had never seen her look so scared before.

"Why did Casey run off?" asked Mikey, looking frightened himself.

"I have no clue," said Raph. "She just started acting weird and mumbled no a lot and then she booked it. And now we lost both of them."

A loud and familiar shriek caught their attention.

"APRIL!" yelled Donnie, booking for the red haired girl they had come to look for originally.

Raph glanced down the tunnel where Casey had booked it. As much as he hated to admit it, with the new revelations, April's safety took precedence at the moment. They had to keep the other girl safe.

April was sobbing openly. Her dad and Casey and now the turtles, how did they further mutate them?

The grotesque and monstrous form that was once Donatello stood before her. He was a hulking, beastly creature that no longer held the spark of intellect and kindness in his eyes. All of them were covered in spikey growths and were hunched over more with the weight of their shells.

Donatello's mask was melded with his face and the tails of it formed a tattoo pattern on his throat. His breathing was ragged and his snout was elongated with sharp teeth.

They were grotesque caricatures of themselves, lost to the madness of the mutagen.

April sobbed, "Donnie no. Not you guys, too."

"April?" said Donnie coaxingly. "April we're all fine. See? We're totally okay."

The girl refused to look up. She was scared with her knees drawn to her chest and her hands balled up as fists to either side of her head. She was crying quietly and muttering, "Not them. Not them. Why did it have to get them?"

Donnie felt a wave of frustration hit him. Casey was missing, driven off by her own invisible fear and April was too scared to move. He then noticed some strange yellow powder in her hair.

"What's this?" he muttered to himself.

"What's what?" asked Leo looking around with careful yet anxious eyes. Going into a high tense situation with little to no info was something no of them were ever going to get used to.

It was becoming increasingly too common for Donnie's taste.

Raph was pacing like a jungle cat. He didn't have anything to hit to make the situation better and knowing his older brother, Donnie figured that leaving Casey behind was weighing on him.

"This yellow powder," said Donnie, "it's all over April's hair. It looks like some sort of pollen."

Leo leaned in closer to get a better look but Donnie stopped him.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said carefully. A theory was beginning to form in his mind, but he needed more data. "Raph?"

"Yeah Donnie?" asked the red bandana turtle. He moved closer, ready to do something.

"You were closest to Casey when she started freaking out. I need you to really think. Was there a strange yellow powder of some sort on her clothes?"

Raph concentrated really hard to when Casey stumbled out of the pipe coughing. He had called out to her to make sure that she was alright and she looked up. In the dim light of sewer, he could see her clothes.

"Yeah," he said coming back to himself. "Yeah there was some yellow stuff on her clothes. And she was coughing too."

Donnie had that look on his face when the pieces of the puzzle were slotting in.

"We need to look in a drainage pipe," said Donnie stubbornly. "April has some sort of weird pollen or spore in her hair. I need to look in one around here to see what's in there."

Raph looked over to Leo. His normally cautious brother nodded fiercely.

"Fine. But we need to stay close, keep an eye out for Casey, and be careful."

Raph let out a breath from his nose. He hated fighting enemies that he could not see. He was not meant for battles of wit and smarts. If he was pummeling something, then he would be feeling a lot better right about now.

Casey Jones scrunched up her body as tight and as little as it could go.

She was hidden in a pipe. Her equipment was an uncomfortable bulge against her back like this. She buried her face against her knees to block out the sounds of the world. She had lost her. She was pretty sure that she had lost her.

How could she be here? She was dead. She was dead and cremated and her ashes were scattered. How could she have come back?

Casey bit back a sob that threatened to overtake her.

"You hate me," accused the voice. It was louder now and closer to her ear. Casey almost sobbed.

"No. No. No. Mommy," said Casey in a broken whisper. "I don't hate you. I'm sorry that I stopped visiting so often. I just couldn't deal with it anymore. I couldn't see you sick."

"Stop lying!" shouted the voice, slurred from the medication and the pain. Casey felt the tears sting her eyes and fall down her dry skin.

"It's the truth, Mommy. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Casey looked up and sobbed at the sight before her.

Her mother stood with her long blonde hair falling out of her scalp. The smell of disease and hospital invaded Casey's nose. Her mother looked bloated and gaunt simultaneously. Her eyes held no recognition of her daughter, no love, but were lost to the disease.

"Why do you hate me so much?" the words were hard in coming, the treatments had damaged her brain more than help the tumors inside of it. Casey felt her stomach churn again and sobbed.

"I don't. I don't," she pleaded. Her heart hammered and she was terrified.

"She died thinking that," whispered a new voice in her ear, an accusing voice. "What a cruel and vicious sister I have."

Casey turned and looked up at Madeline. A sneer was across her pretty sister's face.

"You're pathetic, Casey. You don't care about anyone but yourself."

"I love you, Mads!"

"Then why couldn't you save me from those thugs?!" demanded Madeline in anger. "If you really loved me then you would have been there!"

"Yeah, Jones," said Nick with dark eyes and a sneer across his face. Casey's heart broke all over again seeing him, blood pouring from the wound that she had given him. Even after learning of his cheating ways after he cut ties with her, something in Casey still ached whenever she thought about him. "Why do you even try? Hanging out with those freaks? Are they the only ones who could love someone like you?"

Casey sobbed more. She huddled closer and tried to block out the voices.

"We trusted you, Casey," her dad's gruff voice echoed through the tunnel. "After all that bullshit you got into last year. Coming in at all hours from god knows what, we trusted that you would do better. Now look at you."

"I am doing good!" cried out the dark haired girl wildly. "Really Daddy! I promise. I'm doing something right."

"Are you using us then, Jones?" whispered Raphael's voice. "To make yourself feel better for being such a fuck-up?"

"No! No! Never please believe me, Raph."

"Why should we?" said April with her voice cold and her blue eyes like ice. "You break everything you touch."

"It's not like you have anything worthwhile to contribute to the team," sneered Donnie, looking at her with indifference.

"Honestly," said Mikey with a malicious grin on his face, "we just let you hang out with us because we pity you."

Casey's heart sped up and her breathing quickened. OhGodOhGodOhGodOhGod it was truetruetrue. They hated her. They didn't need her.

She could feel Leo's breath on the back of her neck.

"No one here wants you, Jones," he growled out. "So why do you even bother?"

Casey put her arms over her head and sobbed heavily. She felt like she was about to throw up. It was like every single fear was in front of her.

"We're trash," said a voice she never wanted to hear, "Aren't we?"

Casey looked up weakly.

"Not you," she said.

The black eyes of a bloodied and battered version of Casey stared back at her. The other version of herself smiled, revealing two rows of sharp fangs.

"Yeah," said the black-eyed and shark toothed Casey Jones. "Me."

"Mushrooms," said Raph simply. He looked around at the cavernous expanse.

"Mushrooms," agreed Donnie simply. "Specifically ones that seem to have mutated or been biologically engineered to release a hallucinogenic spore that makes a person hallucinate their worst fear."

Mikey blinked in confusion from his spot of watching April and looked over at Leo for an explanation. The girl twitched a bit and looked around with wide and frightened eyes, but she wasn't crying anymore.

"Don't let those things hit you in the face with any yellow stuff or you're going to hallucinate some bad things."

Considering how terrible their luck was, Raph felt that Leo saying such things was practically inviting it to happen.

A moment after Leo explained to Mikey, a squadron of mushrooms attacked them.

Raph sighed.

He knew that was going to happen.

Leo fixed the grip on his left katana and cleanly sliced the nearby mushroom in two. There were a lot of those little buggers around, more than he would care to think about.

Part of him hoped Casey was okay. It looked like whatever kind of spore the mushrooms sprayed people with only got worse with time. April looked too terrified to even move, which was both a blessing and curse. She screamed every time one of them got too close.

Leo spun and stabbed three of the mushrooms through with his katana. Depositing them on the ground, his eyes tracked his brothers.

Donnie and Mikey had converted their weapons from bo and nunchuck to naginata and kusarigama respectively. Using the long range and bladed capabilities of both weapons to safely destroy the mushrooms.

Satisfied that his two younger siblings were fine for the moment, Leo's eyes tracked the area for Raph. He was at the most disadvantage here. Long-range attacks would have been preferred over the short distance allowed by his sai. Even if he stuck with his shuriken, there were only so many of those to go around.

Raph was putting up a valiant effort though, stabbing the mushrooms just before they released their spores.

Right until one attached itself to Raph's head and released the spore down his face, like a waterfall.

"RAPHAEL!" shouted Leo. It was all he could do as the mushrooms started swarming him, Donnie, and Mikey to keep them from his brother.

Raph coughed as the spore invaded his lungs.

Oh. _SHIT._

"They're holding you back, Raphael," purred a low, rumbling voice in his ear.

Raph's heart lodged in his throat and stayed there.

"No. No," he said slowly. "Not you. What are you doing here?"

He turned and looked at the monstrous, hulking form of Slash. His former friend smirked and hefted his mace onto his shoulder.

"I'm here to finish what I started. I'm going to destroy your brothers," he chuckled darkly. "And then it'll just be me and you, partner. Like you always wanted."

Raph was rooted to the spot as Slash lumbered toward Leo.

He spun his sais and growled out, "Like hell you are! I ain't afraid of you!"

It was partially true.

He wasn't afraid of Slash.

He was terrified of him.

Casey was terrified of her. She scrunched tighter against the wall, ignoring the uncomfortableness in her back.

"Not you," she whispered, as she looked at her monstrous other self.

The black eyed Casey Jones tsked simply. The blood trickled from a gash in her hand and her knuckles were skinned so deeply you could see the bone. She wore a black tank top and old jeans, blood splattered on some areas of them.

"Don't be like that," she murmured. "You make the both of us look bad."

"I'm not scared of you," said Casey, looking her down trying to feel brave.

"Oh please," scoffed her black eyed self. "We both know that is utter bullshit, Cassandra Jones. I am you after all. We both know what they're all saying is true."

Casey looked at the people surrounding her black eyed self. People she loved and cherished and trusted. All of them hated her. All of them she had failed: failed to protect, failed to love, failed to be there for, and failed just in general. She was a failure and trash and never deserved to be with them.

"Why care about such people?" asked her other self. "They all hurt you in the end, Casey. "

"No," whispered Casey. "They love me."

"Do they?" asked her other self. She stood and smiled with her sharp and bloodied teeth. "Do they really? You don't have to lie to me anymore, Casey. I am you."

"You are not me!" shouted Casey fearfully. "You were never me! That's a lie! That's a lie!"

"It's the truth," whispered her other self. "I am you, Casey Jones. I am every hateful feeling inside of your worthless and pathetic body. I am your repression and anger and bloodlust. I drive you, Casey. I make you enjoy hurting them and failing them and yourself. What did those girls say?"

Almost as if on cue, Alison Ann Abernathy came forward. She was still nine years old going on ten and her perfect nose was bloodied and broken. She smiled cruelly.

"Trailer trash Jones, loser and a freak, you're just one moment away from snapping. The nuns think you're going to Hell after all."

"We're not a good person," whispered her other self. "We're as horrible as they come. We give false hope and take it away."

Behind her black eyed self, everyone smiled darkly.

"Maybe we should just take her out of her misery," commented April taking out her tessen. "She's a useless sack of skin anyway."

Casey screamed as they advanced toward her. In the lead was her black eyed self.

Her greatest fear and her own worst enemy: herself.

There were too many of them, realized Leo.

They were all going to be hit and this was going to be it. Donnie said that they needed to make sure to defeat them before sundown.

But how could they? How could they win when their own fears were so potent?

Mikey was the second hit, much in the same way as Raph. He sliced through several with a long range attacked with his kusarigama when a lucky one had jumped onto his head and released the spore.

Leo didn't know what his youngest brother was seeing, but he was sitting there silently and trembling like a leaf. He wasn't screaming. He was just quiet.

It was cold.

It was dark.

His brothers were gone, gone, gone far away from him. An unseen enemy growled all around him.

Michelangelo was alone in utter blackness and he was terrified.

If he stayed completely still, never moved and never joked and never smiled and never cried, then maybe the monster would go away and his brothers will come back.

He could stop being scared when the blackness receded.

He could move then.

It was just Leo and Donnie now. Raph had disappeared from Leo's sight, fighting an unseen enemy wildly.

Leo grunted and moved forward slashing through another wave of the mushrooms.

"There has to be a main mushroom that all of these are stemming from! They're multiplying way too fast," called Donnie.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You're getting through more of them then I am," said his brother as logically as he could muster, "They're either going for me or you next. Leo, if it's me then you're going to have to have to find it destroy it."

"I'm not leaving you guys!" said Leo as he slashed through a new wave.

"You're going to have to!" shouted Donnie as he stabbed several at once. The hidden blade did not pierce a mushroom at the end of the line. Quickly and gracefully, the mushroom floated through the air and hit Donnie in the face with the spore.

"NO!" screamed Leo as Donnie landed next to April, who screamed and ran away.

Donnie coughed and opened his eyes.

April peered down at him disgruntledly.

"April?" he croaked.

"Ew," said the girl, wrinkling her nose. "Don't talk to me you freak."

Terror seized his heart, "Wh-what? April I'm your friend!"

"Please," snorted April as she stood up with a cruel light in her eyes. "Like I would seriously be friends with a bunch of mutant freaks who mutated my dad! You're not even smart enough to cure him!"

"I-I will! I will cure your dad! April…"

He reached out to take her hand when a hockey stick came down on his own. Donnie's hand jerked back and he saw Casey standing there with a sneer on her face.

"Sewer trash shouldn't touch her," growled the older girl. "You're such a disappointment, Donatello. Why do we even spend time with you guys? You bring nothing into our lives."

"We're your friends!"

"Like we would ever really be friends with a buncha mutants," scoffed Casey. "Especially a freaky one who experiments on people. Are me and April gonna end up like that Goo Guy you keep in your lab?"

"His name is Timothy! I'm gonna to find a cure for him and for April's dad!"

"Like they believe that, egghead," whispered Raph in his ear. "You're weird even for a mutated turtle. You weren't even human to begin with. So why play at it? No one is ever going to truly accept you?"

"STOP!" screamed Donatello, shutting his eyes tight and placing his hand over his ears. He stumbled to his feet and ran away down the tunnel.

Leo tried to run after his family. The only one he could see was Mikey, sitting perfectly still and shaking like a leaf. Even though he was right in Leo's sight. He was also lost to him.

Leo was, in the truest sense of the word, alone.

"No," he whispered before turning around and getting hit the face with the spore.

It blinded him, causing him to loose his footing and fall down into darkness.

They were coming after her, thought April hysterically.

She didn't know why they were coming after her. Her father, the newly mutated Casey, the twice-mutated turtles all of them were coming after her.

All of them wanted a piece of her, and April felt a terror seize her in the gut. They were so far gone that they weren't sure what they wanted her for.

They didn't know her anymore, didn't know their bonds, and she was terrified of what that would mean when the mutagen got her.

"Why try to fight it?" asked Casey's dark eyed self.

"T-this is-isn't real," stuttered Casey as she prepared to fight. "You're not here."

"Doesn't matter if I'm here or not. Only matter if I'm right. I'm you after all."

"You are not!"

"Am too! You just refuse to accept that I'm there! You just ignore me!"

"NO! I DON'T!"

"One day, Casey you're going to become every single thing that they believed you to be. You're going to be the failure and loser that you are. You are nothing, Jones, nothing. And you'll never amount to anything good."

Casey felt the cool hand of her dark eyed self touch her cheek.

"Face it," she said with bloody smile, "It's either dead, imprisoned, or an insane homicidal mutant. You're prospects aren't that great."

"It's a lie," insisted Casey, but she wasn't meeting her other self's eyes. Her heart pounded in her chest and she felt a real terror carve itself in her bones.

"LET HIM GO!" screamed Raph in terror. He tried to strike Slash, who was holding a bloodied Mikey in his fist. His youngest brother's arm was obvioiusly broken and rivulets of blood rolled down his skin.

"After all he's done to you?" whispered Slash menacingly. "Not a chance. Anger makes us strong, Raphael. Give into it."

Slash lifted Mikey to deliver the killing blow.

Raph's eyes widen as the cold grip of terror seeped into his blood stream. Ice ran through is veins.

Mikey whimpered as he felt the monster move all around.

He could barely see his own hand in front of his face. When he dared to move it, the monster growled unpleasantly and he felt it brush against he cheek.

He hasn't dared moved since.

The monster that surrounded him in this strange and dark place probably killed his brothers.

And if Mikey wanted to live to avenge their deaths, then he would have to be perfectly and utterly still in this instant.

He was scared.

Donatello ran from April, Casey, and his brothers all of whom hurled insults and abuse at him.

They were right. He was a freak even amongst the mutants of society.

Why did he try so hard to be human when he would never, ever fit in with them? Why did he loved a girl who would never love him back? Why did he try so hard with his brothers, who loved but felt like there was a vast expanse separating them?

What right did he have to any of it?

"You're just a freak," growled April, slapping him across the face.

The terror racing through him stopped all higher brain functions.

April was right. They all were right. He was a freak and an outcast.

That was all he was ever going to be.

'It was strange,' thought Leo as he woke up, 'the spores aren't effecting me like they should.'

He was in a deeper cavern. He was surrounded by the strange mushroom creatures and was totally cut-off from his team.

He was hit in the face with those spores.

So…why wasn't he feeling the effects of it? Shouldn't he be curled up in a ball of gibbering terror right about now?

Leo stood and tried to calm his pounding heart.

Maybe the spores don't work when you're already scared? Because, before Leo was hit in the face, he was already terrified.

His brothers were lost to him. Casey and April were gone. He was alone, separated from his team.

There was no fear for him to live.

Leo was already living his greatest fear.

"Feeeeed me," moaned a guttural voice. "Feed me your fear."

Leo turned around: face-to-face with a giant one-eyed mushroom. A can of mutagen protruded from the great fungal beast.

He looked at the giant mushroom with big eyes. He thought of his team, his brothers and friends, scattered and needing him. Something like a resolve bloomed within him.

He had no time for this creature, not when those truly important to him needed him more.

"That's the problem," said the leader simply. "I have no fear to feed you."

"Feed me," demanded the mushroom in an earth-shaking voice.

"Not when it's feeding **_me_**," retorted Leo, as he jumped into the air with his katana. "We're going to _end_ this! NOW!"

The mushroom groaned and released several balls full of the spore into the air. Leo jumped and landed.

The fight was on.

Leo breathed and focused his energy.

He was terrified, but not of this. He wasn't fighting the fear or running or hiding. He was facing it.

Maybe that's why he was keeping such a cool head.

He dodged the balls of spore and flipped into the air. He sliced through the retinue of the dancing mushroom creatures.

There had to be away to defeat this thing.

Leo dodged another attack of exploding spore bombs and drove his katana through a new line of mushrooms.

He kicked away an oncoming one, which landed in a spot where the light bled through a crack in the surface. With a tiny scream, the mushroom withered and died.

Leo looked up at the crack.

He smirked to himself. That could work.

"HEY UGLY!" shouted Leo in a taunting voice. "COME AND GET ME!"

The one-eyed creature took the bait and launched a spore bomb.

Leo jumped into the air and met it halfway, twisting his body, he kicked the spore bomb upward. It lodged into the crack as Leo began to fall back to the ground.

"NOOOOOO!" howled the creature as the spore bomb exploded and filled the cavern with light.

"Let here be light," shouted Leo, using the reflective surface of the katana's blade to make the light brighter.

The mushroom mutant released an unholy shriek and began to whither and die.

April gasped and looked around.

She stood, surrounded by the guys and rapidly decaying mushrooms in a open corridor of the sewers.

The insane mutant versions of her father and friends had disappeared. She was safe.

"Guys?" she croaked out nervously.

Mikey immediately jumped up and looked around. His hand was shaking, the same fine tremor that was in April's own hand.

"It's gone," he said with a relieved sigh.

"MIKEY!" shouted Raph in a relieved voice. The normally emotionally hidden turtle ran over and picked up his youngest sibling into a bone-crushing hug.

"C-Can't breathe, Raph," choked out Mikey, but didn't struggle too hard in the hug.

"April?" asked Donnie tentatively.

April turned around and felt a wave of relief surge through her, "Donnie."

"Oh thank God," said the purple masked turtle, hugging her close.

April sagged boneless into her best friend's arms.

"Guys!" cried out Leo, jogging over to them. Relief was clearly etched across his face. "You're back to normal."

"Yeah," said Donnie pulling away from April with a slight blush on his face. "You did it, Leo. Good job."

April had a lot of questions about what happened. She was about to ask them when she noticed someone missing. Her stomach plunged to somewhere around her toes.

"Guys?" she asked with shakiness to her voice. "Where's Casey?"

"She ran off earlier," said Raph also looking worried. "She must have stayed wherever she ended up."

"We should find her," said Leo immediately in leader mode. "I know no one wants to do this but we should split up. I'll go by myself."

"Actually," said Donnie suddenly. "Leo take April with you. Mikey and Raph could go together. I'll go by myself."

Normally Donnie would have loved a chance to jump at free time alone with April. But, after today, he thought that Leo was a better option. Drawing mainly on past experience, when Donnie was younger and his nightmares scared him awake. He usually tiptoed into Leo's bed for comfort from the bad dreams.

Statistically, he hoped, it would have a similar effect on April.

Leo caught his eye. Donnie set his face to remain firm, but Leo must have seen something on it. His eldest brother's dark blue eyes softened kindly and he smiled gently.

"Okay," he said. Leo held out his hand for April to take, which she did gratefully.

"Casey couldn't have gotten far," said Leo, slipping into leader mode. "We should find her soon enough."

Donnie nodded and kicked a dying mushroom out of the way. They had a comrade to find.

She was all alone now.

Casey trembled with fear and repressed sobs. All the reminders of her failure had vanished. She was alone, in a cavernous pipe in the sewers.

She should move. She should go to the guys. She shouldn't hide away from the world like she was five years old again and refusing to deal with people.

She buried her face into her knees and several tears escaped her eyes.

She couldn't move. Casey felt like she was so lost. She didn't even know how to get back to her friends.

She didn't even know if they wanted her back. She ran off like that. She lost April.

All she does is let down people. What if they don't want her anymore? She screwed up.

She keeps screwing up.

Casey huddled in on herself even tighter and buried her head into her knees.

No one was going to find her. She was going to have to save herself, again. She'll move in a minute.

"Casey?" called a familiar voice. It was a kind voice, full of gentleness that Casey's heart ached.

"Doc?" she croaked up. Her throat was clogged with tears and scratchy from shouting.

"You're okay," said Donnie with a relieved voice climbing into the pipe. "We've been looking all over for you. We were worried."

"You…were?" questioned Casey, looking up at him.

Donnie was surprised to see the tear tracks streak across Casey's cheeks. Her eyes were red, puffy, and bloodshot. She had obviously been crying for quite awhile.

Making a decision, Donnie took a seat next to her.

"Of course we were," he assured softly. "We're friends."

Casey nodded absentmindedly. She moved closer to Donnie and was clearly trying to stop herself from crying.

"A-Am I good person?" she asked suddenly.

Donnie felt like this was a question to some sort of test.

"I think you try to be," he said suddenly and soothingly. "And I think that, in the end, that's all we can strive to be."

He wasn't sure if answer satisfied her, but she moved closer to him still.

"I don't think that I can move right now," said Casey roughly.

"That's fine," assured Donnie gently. "You and I can just sit here awhile. Then we can go back to the Lair okay? I think we all need each other after the day we had."

Casey nodded in agreement at that. She didn't say anything more, but she did lean into Donnie. Resting her head on his shoulder, the older girl buried her face in it.

Almost instinctively, Donnie wrapped an arm around her.

Casey Jones sobbed against his shoulders, in a show of vulnerability that Donnie didn't think the girl possessed. He held close and didn't say a word. Instead, he just let her sob and wondered what scared her so much to elicit such a reaction.

In the dim light of the sewers provided, Donnie held Casey close until she finished crying and had fallen asleep against him. They stayed like that until Leo and April stumbled across the pair.

Leo carried Casey's equipment back to the Lair, while Donnie carried the girl herself.

He laid her on the couch near everyone as the congregated in the main sitting area. No one said a word. Instead the all gathered around each other, needing the contact instead of the words and needing to know that their worst fears had no come true that day.

* * *

**A/N: **Okay so I feel like I should explain the fears.

April's fear is not bats but of the mutagen. More specifically, it's of what the mutagen has done to those around her. Sure the guys and Splinter are fine, but what if they got another dose? What if Casey got hit with it? Her dad was hit with the stuff and it drove him insane. It drives everyone that it has contact with insane. And April's fear is that those around her will be dosed with it again and lost to her like her Dad currently is.

Casey's fear is of herself. More specifically, it's of the power that she has over others. She doesn't want to disappoint people. She wants to protect them. She loves these people around her. She wants to be a good a person. The fear comes from this being all a lie that she hurts the people she wants to help. That she isn't a good person and will just end up how everyone else believes she will.

Raph's fear is that Slash will come back and finish the job. His brothers will be dead and it will be his fault because his temper had poisoned Spike's mind when he turned into Slash. He was terrified in "Slash and Destroy" when Donnie and Mikey were hit so badly.

Mikey's fear is that he will be all alone, separated from his brothers, surrounded in the darkness by an unknown enemy that he cannot fight. I feel like it captures Mikey who feels a need to be around people and who is so dedicated to those around him.

Donatello's fear is that the people who accepted his friends and his family will see him as a freak, that he will be further separated from his brothers and friends. That they will eventually abandoned him because his genius or his mutant status has gotten too much for them to deal with. It comes from an awareness of his outsider status, a fear that he will never be accepted even by those who he believed understands him.

Leo's fear is failing the team. Since he was already living it, however, the spores didn't have the proper effect on him. Because I feel like that made more sense.

Next fic will be way, way happier and shorter. Promise!


	12. Part Twelve

**A/N: **Title comes from P!nk's "Fuckin' Perfect". I literally wrote three different versions of this story until I got one that I liked.

The slow burn relationship from Donnie and Casey is starting now. I've planned a good chunk of the series out. We will get to the promise land of the actual relationship. It's just going to take like twelve or thirteen more parts to get there. Fun for all of us. am I right?

I'm going to try to do a once a week update for this series now that classes have started to get in full swing.

As always this is unbeta'd.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles _in any way, shape, or form.

* * *

**Part Twelve:**_Change The Voices In Your Head_

* * *

When Casey Jones was eight years old, she and her mother went on a long drive.

"Where are we going, Mommy?" asked Casey with her long braided blonde hair. She was wearing jean shorts and t-shirt. A baseball cap was on her head.

"Just a drive, sweetie," assured Grace Williams-Jones with a sweet smile. Her blue eyes were bright and there was a mischievous smile on her face.

"What about Maddy and Daddy?"

"They're going to have a special Daddy-daughter day," assured Grace gently. "Just like we are having a special Mommy-daughter day."

So Casey was in the car with her Mommy.

She doesn't remember too much of the actual drive. It was more of a snippets kind of thing. She remembers the fractals of light shining from the dangling crystal that hung from the rearview mirror. She remembered the soft voices of Motown singers and British Invasion bands on the radio.

She remembered how the city slowly receded and the trees and green seemed to spring up around them. Her mother's soft voice was in the air.

They stopped somewhere in the mountains. Casey stumbled out of the car, simultaneously tired from the long drive and a bit antsy.

She stopped and stared with her eyes wide.

For a girl who had never been out of the city in her life, the sight of the mountains was like a revelation.

There were just these lush endless hills of green everywhere. It looked like an ocean of grass and trees.

She stood there. Such a sight enthralled her child mind. She had only seen the parks and the botanical gardens, but this was something unfettered and wild and free.

Casey remembers her mother wrapping her arms around her, kissing her hair gently.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

"Yeah!"

"Do you wanna go play with Mommy?"

"YES!"

Casey and her mother played until they had to make the drive back into the city. Both of them were covered in grass stains and dirt. She remembers nothing of her drive back home except the fractal rainbow of the crystal in twilight along with her mother softly singing with the radio.

It was something, one of the many things, which Casey thought about when remembering her mother.

It's one of the things that she focuses on when the guilt eats her up.

"_You hate me don't you?"_

Even though her mother wasn't in her right mind. Even though the medicine and the chemo and the cancer itself had eaten away at Katharine Jones' brain. It was still something that stayed with Casey.

So she held onto that image of grass stains and fractal rainbows and a soft voice singing along with the radio.

Casey wakes up to darkness.

She feels gross all over (not a surprise she spent a lot of time in a sewer) and her eyes itched.

Remembering, with some embarrassment, that she cried herself to sleep, she sat up a bit more and looked around. Someone had taken off her gear and tucked her in with a blanket on the couch.

Brushing away a piece of hair that fell into her face, Casey blearily looked at the scene in front of her.

Mikey was happily snoring away stretched out over several pillows and dead to the world. In his arms was a teddy bear patched up with duct tape. Leo was against the couch with a leg up and his arms wrapped around his katana scabbards. Someone has tucked a blanket around his shell and shoulders.

April, like Casey, was stretched out on the large wrap around couch. She had a pillow placed under her head and a blanket tucked around her.

Raph was positioned near Casey but had the vantage point of keeping track of the rest of everyone in the room. He was snoring softly with a comic book still held in his slackened grip.

Clearly, the day had taken a lot out of everyone.

Casey looked at the static filled screen and around the room again. She debated on whether or not to turn it off, but looking at Mikey's sprawled and prone form decided against it.

Shifting her legs off the couch, Casey looked around the room again.

Where was Donnie?

The girl frowned and stood up suddenly. She took the blanket that she had been wrapped in and gently traded Raph's comic for the blanket.

Raph responded in the way of a true ninja. He snored louder.

Casey smirked to herself.

Teenage boys were always going to be teenage boys in the end.

Donnie sipped his coffee and considered the specimen under his microscope carefully. He was tired and knew he should sleep.

But he wanted to understand. He needed to understand just what the mushroom did to produce such hallucinations, such targeted fears.

How did emotion make it grow so big? Why was it growing so big? What did the mushroom mutate from? It clearly had to have some contact with something other then the mutagen in order for it to grow an eye. There had to be a kind of logic for how the mutagen worked. There had to be a reason why most went insane while he, his brothers, and his father did not.

Reasons, there had to be a reasons for things. It's what makes science so amazing. It makes the world make sense.

There is nothing that a mind cannot do. Donnie has to believe that.

Even though in the end, it seems like his brilliant mind will not amount to much. He's still…he's still a freak. No matter what pretty words are said. He's still an outcast.

He's still himself.

"Lost in thought?" asked a soft female voice.

Donnie jumped ever so slightly. It was rather rare when someone got the jump on him. But he was lulled into a false sense of security by his own troubled thoughts.

He turned fully to look at Casey, who was standing in the door. She was wearing only jeans and a white tank top, having stripped out of soiled layers of clothing. They were probably added on the pile for washing later in the machines. She was still wearing her jeans though, meaning that she had come to see him first rather than change totally.

Without any regard to an invitation, Casey walked into the lab. Falling into a seat next to Donnie, she looked curiously at the microscope, coffee, and scribbled notes.

"So what are you doing instead of sleeping?"

"I should ask you the same question."

"Hey I did sleep at least," said Casey defensively. She brought her knees up to her chest.

"I'm trying to identify the type of spore that got us," answered Donnie. "See if I can develop something to combat the hallucinations. I wonder why it had us hallucinate our fears over anything else."

"S'a good question," Casey agreed leaning forward. Her hair fell into her brownish-hazel eyes.

"I'd like to think so. With everyone asleep, I may make headway tonight."

"Til I woke up," said Casey with a teasing grin. Donnie swallowed and looked down at his notes.

"N-No of course not, Casey," he rushed to assure the girl. Mentally Donnie was wondering why he was ever allowed to talk to others it always ended badly.

"Aw hell, Doc," the older girl said. "I wasn't taking offense. You'll know when I take offense."

That was a very valid point. Casey Jones had no problem on telling people when they crossed a line with her: street harassers, gang members, thugs, mutants, and even robots. Of course, she used it with her fist.

Casey rested her chin on her arms.

"I really hope we don't run into that thing again," she said suddenly, quietly.

"I think Leo killed it," confided Donnie. "I just feel better making contingency plans. It's part of how I deal with all the madness around here."

"Good way to do it," agreed Casey.

They sat in silence for a few moments. Donnie fixed some things on his notes of the spores and sipping coffee. Casey watched him carefully.

"Thanks," she said suddenly.

He blinked and looked at her in confusion.

"For you know…sitting with me when I was crying and stuff," the girl explained awkwardly. "I know it must have been weird and shit. I'm not really a crier."

"Everyone cries," Donnie assured her gently. "I won't tell anyone you did so. It was bad for all of us."

"Always sucks to be reminded how fucked up we are," agreed Casey quietly. "Do you think I'm a good person, Donnie?"

Donnie leaned back and considered his answer.

He remembered all those weeks ago. Casey was in the Lair after the Foot Bot chase and her pronouncement of not being a good person. She had pointed out all her flaws and failings, her desire of wanting to do good for others.

"I think that you're a better person then you give yourself credit for," Donnie said. "At least from my own observations anyway. You care and try to hide that you do."

He decided to share something personal.

"Part of my fear was you and April rejecting me," he began before hastily adding, "and the others, too. Obviously. You have become important to us, too. I care about our friendship is what I'm saying. I'm scared of losing it. If you weren't a good person then I wouldn't be afraid of that would I?"

Casey looked her him carefully.

"It was myself," she said quietly. "I'm scared of myself. I'm scared of hurting the people around me. I don't want to hurt them anymore. I don't want to be this piece of trash that people see me as. I don't want to be someone to avoid. I just don't want to be scared of myself."

"Bad parts," Donnie said quietly, "are something that we all have. We're not going to leave you, Casey. Or hate you for it. And you will never be a piece of trash. Even if you were, which you are not, you're down here with us. Most trash ends up down here anyway and it finds a good home."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Yes? I'm not that good with words."

Casey laughed and smiled. She knocked her shoulder against his.

"I don't know, Doc. I thought you were pretty damn eloquent there," Casey said with a grin. "And for the record, I'm not going anywhere. You guys are my buds, too. It's nice actually having a group, being a part of something."

"Even with all the insanity?"

"Especially with all the insanity, Doc! The good and the bad, especially the bad I think. Maybe knowing our fears better it'll help us face them more you know? Doesn't mean we're going to stop in the end. But we don't gotta. We just have to face them I guess," said Casey in her own awkward way.

"I think your theory holds merit, Casey Jones," agreed Donnie steepling his fingers.

Casey grinned at Donnie.

It was nice talking with him. He was the smartest guy she had ever met in her whole life. But when they talked, he treated her like her ideas had merit. It was nice being treated like she wasn't dumb or didn't understand. Sure sometimes he got caught up in his own brilliance (and he discredited Mikey's ideas). But in these quiet moments, Donnie was pretty cool to talk to.

"So," Casey said leaning forward, "can you call it quits for the night, Doc?"

Donnie considered his notes and microscope. Casey was just about to drag him off against his will when he spoke

"I guess lying on the couch wouldn't hurt."

"Damn right it won't," agreed Casey standing up. "Can you grab some more blankets? I don't know where they are."

"No problem," Donnie said standing and stretching. "I don't thinbk I can sleep quite yet though."

"Ah the dark side of caffeine. Well if your TV does closed captioning we can watch that? Or make our own dialogue. I don't want to wake your brothers up."

"Neither do I," Donnie agreed quietly. He looked at them with a quietly fond expression on his face.

"What was the other part of your fear?" asked Casey suddenly, following Donnie. It was good to know where the towels were anyway.

"Hmm?"

"You said that me and Red only made part of your fear," she said quietly. "What was the other part of it?"

"Oh," Donnie said quietly. He cast a quick glance at Casey. Casey tried to look like she wouldn't tell anyone or whatever he was looking for. Donnie sighed, "I guess it's similar to yours in anyway. Not of myself but letting them down, not knowing enough, being even more of an outcast. Sometimes it can feel lonely being different from everyone else who is different."

"You know that they would never think that, right?" asked Casey resting a hand on his shoulder. Her voice was unexpectedly tender and kind even to her own ears.

What was it about them that made her act this way? She rarely did before. Only to her family, maybe Linda once and awhile before all this started. She did so to Nick, once upon a time.

Something about this group made Casey feel safe enough to expose some of her own more hidden facets. It was terrifying in a different way, this vulnerability.

"Knowing is one thing. Emotions are something totally different, Casey."

Casey laughed quietly, "Isn't that the truth, Doc."

A comfortable moment hung in the air between the two. Neither of them wanted to break it.

Suddenly, Casey realized her hand was still on Donnie's shoulder. Feeling suddenly and unexpectedly awkward, she withdrew it. He glanced over to her, a question on his face.

Casey swallowed thickly. It had been a long day and even with the nap from crying she was still tired. It was time to note dwell on these thoughts.

"Okay so blankets are…"

Donnie took her wrist in his hand and tugged her along gently, "This way. Follow me."

Raph woke slowly.

It wasn't the ninja way to wake up or something. But they weren't in a combat zone or in enemy territory. They were home and home was safety.

So Raph woke up slowly from the deep and dreamless sleep he was in.

He was on the couch and a pain in his neck told him he fell asleep sitting up again. He yawned and moved forward, a blanket falling off of him.

The blanket he had wrapped around Casey earlier.

Alarmed, Raph looked around the room for his best human friend while also counting off to make sure everyone was there.

Mikey was on the pillows. Leo was leaning against the couch in a sitting position. April was sprawled out on the sofas.

And there was Donnie and Casey, who had changed into the spare set of clothes she kept at the Lair, who had fallen asleep together in front of one of Donnie's homemade laptops.

Knowing his brother, he had to be dragged out of the lab in order to get some sleep.

Raph let out a sigh of relief at the sight.

Sensei was asleep in his own rooms at this time. His family was all safe and sound.

Raph stood and walked over to the pair. Carefully pulling away the homemade laptop, he shut it down and tucked their individual blankets around the pair a bit more.

Taking his own blanket, he passed it to Mikey. His youngest brother mumbled out a string of incoherent dream gibberish and cuddled into his teddy bear a bit more.

Reclaiming his place on the couch, Raphael settled down. He had slept enough.

Now he could make sure that his family would sleep well.

* * *

**A/N: **Next one is something I've been dying to write since I started this series: Casey and Karai. This is going to fun to write.

Also if any of you want to like drop some asks about the series or the like, you can always follow me on Tumblr: . I really just like the idea of interacting with all you wonderful people you read my work because you guys rock seriously.


	13. Part Thirteen

**A/N: **Title comes from "God Is A DJ" by P!nk.

Sorry! I know it's been over a week. I've been busy with school and stuff. Why? Grad school sucks. Anyway there should be double posting this week because I need to stay on schedule if I want to get the story I got planned from the TMNT Mini-Bang up on time and on schedule.

Anyway this work is unbeta'd. I just really wanted to put Casey and Karai together in a room.

Also Casey talks about her past more. It was stuff I had planned out since the beginning.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_.

* * *

**Part Thirteen: **_So Find A New Lifestyle, Reason To Smile_

* * *

It was one in the morning and Casey Jones just wanted some goddamn French toast.

Her hair was still damp from the shower she took in the Lair. A lucky cut on her arm was bandaged securely. The boys were similarly safe and happy in the Lair doing whatever they did after she left. April was safely walked home to her aunt's place.

Casey was in her favorite twenty-four hour greasy spoon of a diner. She didn't want to deal with evil mutants. She didn't want to deal with robot aliens. She didn't want to deal with evil ninjas and lost daughters.

She didn't want to deal with the weird that her life had become. She just wanted a moment, one moment, to have control.

All she wanted was some one in the morning post-fight French toast, bacon, and a cup of terrible weak tea.

This was all she wanted in her life right now.

So of course, of course, of all the greasy spoon twenty-four diners in the great city of New York, Karai had to walk into hers.

Casey could feel the groan in her throat. Along with the sudden and understandable need of banging her head against the table until she saw stars.

Casey wasn't stupid. She knew that the Shredder knew who she was. She's had the pleasure of meeting some of his minions and she dismembers his robots with glee.

Actually, Florence was getting lonely. Maybe she should keep one of those weird arm sickle things next time.

Long story short, she knew that even if they never met Karai was more than likely aware of her and knew who she was.

The girl in question's sharp light brown eyes met Casey's. Casey held her gaze.

Karai pursed her own red painted lips before joining Casey at her table.

Before she could speak, however, Casey spoke.

"Look I know that you're going to say that you want to kill me and all that stuff. But you seem like a reasonable kind of girl. All I want is some French toast and a chance to sleep for like five hours. Unless you and your guys want to deal with the Kraang. And I figure you don't because Rahzar is an ass and Fishface is annoying. So I'm thinking you don't want to be around either of them for any longer then you need to be. So let me just eat my terrible diner food and we can call it a night. And I can pencil you in for attempted murder or assault tomorrow."

Karai blinked in surprise. Obviously the kunoichi was not expecting that kind of response. Casey felt slightly proud. This was she enjoyed being blunt sometimes. It threw people off guard beautifully.

Of course what Karai said next threw Casey totally off guard. Mainly due to the fact that Casey's life always seemed to go like that. You get the upper hand for like a minute then the next thing that happens is a total mind screw.

"Alright," said the other girl.

"Seriously?" asked Casey in shock. She probably should not look so shocked. But this was just screwing with her.

"Honestly Jones right?" At Casey's dumbfounded nod, Karai continued. "Honestly Jones I just came here for something to eat as well. I miss a lot about Tokyo and Japan, but I have to admit that these places are pretty great. Besides Rahzar was getting on my nerves as well. You know how he is."

"An asshole," supplied Casey absentmindedly. She was considering the fact that whatever had sliced was poisoned or gave her tetanus and now she was hallucinating. It beat the fear shrooms by a mile but she didn't want to talk to an imaginary pink elephant in the morning.

"Pretty much," smirked Karai. "I'm not really in the mood to fight myself tonight."

Casey steeped her weak hot cup of Lipton more and looked at Karai with a raised eyebrow.

"Really now?"

"Right now all you're doing is destroying Foot Bots, harassing our hired muscle, and being a pain in the ass to some pains in the ass. I have no love for my father's lieutenants. Besides the more of ass you make them, then the better I looked when I finally nail you and the turtles as the date of my father's return comes closer."

"Shredder's not in the city?"

"He had some business back home and left me in charge for the moment. Which is why I'm at this place at one in the morning instead of back at our base."

It made sense to Casey. Shredder, according to all testimony, was the kind of guy to keep people on a short leash. If this was Karai's way of getting some freedom then who was she to judge?

"You do realize that I don't trust you."

"Naturally," Karai said with a predatory grin. "And I to you. Still we can at least break bread together."

Casey realized when she was stuck. She added some sugar to her tea and stirred, "French toast is pretty good."

"Really?"

"Wouldn't go for the pie. Pretty sure that's been here since the Carter administration," said Casey, repeating an old joke of her father's.

Karai raised an eyebrow at that, "Pretty sure that's joke older then the Carter administration."

"It's a classic. And of course not. It's at least as old as the first Bush administration, Karai. Duh," joked Casey with a smirk.

The girl gave her a dry look, which had Casey giggling.

For a slightly homicidal, tragic ninja assassin, Karai seemed alright. You know without the fact that the other girl would delight in the death of her true biological father and Casey's friends.

Baby steps had to be taken, she supposed.

"Viper," Casey said suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"Your lipstick color," supplied Casey. "It's Viper, right? I have a tube somewhere at home."

"You know your stuff."

"Just red lipstick," Casey said. "It's kind of my thing."

Karai took a sip of the terrible diner coffee provided for her. The texture was gritty. The milk was not skim. It needed so much sugar to make it palatable to any sensible person.

It tasted like a moment's peace.

Sometimes it was hard to be her father's pride. The best kunoichi the Foot Clan had ever produced.

Karai considered Casey Jones. The girl would never be considered beautiful as the way society deemed it. Her bad dye-job, twice broken nose, and overall demeanor had seen to that. But there was something about her: primal and wild and exotic.

Just because Karai had never faced the other girl in combat doesn't mean she wasn't watching. Anything that could be a weapon in the hands of Casey Jones was dangerous. It fell in line with the rumors Karai had heard in the early days of New York on the underground fight club circuits.

Casey leaving that world didn't mean she the impression she made disappeared.

It was a puzzle that Karai had to admit an interest in solving.

"Why do you do this?" asked the kunoichi. When dealing with someone like Casey Jones, it was best to go for the direct approach. "The vigilante stuff?"

Casey squeezed a bit of lemon into her tea and stirred thoughtfully.

"At first, it was because I kept getting swept up into the weird shit with Red. Then, the Dragons mugged my sister."

"Good job breaking their arms by the way."

"I got to them all eventually," Casey said darkly. "Took some time and planning. But I got to them all."

"Can I ask why?" asked Karai. Casey's preoccupation with the Purple Dragons seemed odd.

"They hit my sister. One of them did. Just made sure that I cast a wide enough net to make the one who did it pay," murmured the dark haired girl. A pleased grimace graced her mouth with a dark satisfaction.

Karai approved of that thirst for vengeance.

"Then well," Casey said snapping back. "I found that I was good at it. I'm not that good at a lot of stuff: middle of the road student and all that, so college is out unless I can get a scholarship. And since I don't think that a lot of schools are clamoring for my slap shot, even though it's freaking awesome, I had to do something. I liked it and well I liked them."

Karai felt the flash of anger toward the Turtles flair up.

Casey seemed to sense her anger because she became quiet as the waitress brought them their food. Sitting back further, the girl took a tentative bite of her meal.

"You know. I get it," she said after a thoughtful chew on her breakfast idea. Karai snorted at that. She really doubted that statement.

Casey seemed to sense that but not take offence. At least, she didn't seem to take offence to Karai. The girl took a deep sip of her tea, considering Karai with her dark eyes.

"I do. My mother died as well," she said simply. "I was about twelve."

Karai swallowed a bit. She tightened her grip on her fork and looked at her food.

"Did you?"

"It was cancer. You know I kind of envy you and Red in that regard. It's kind of sick, I know. You have someone physical to project all that anger toward at least. You have someone there that you can hit and call out and defeat. Me? Mutated cells. I mean what am I supposed to do with that? My Dad was depressed after she died. So I had to take care of my sister too. Which was fine I love my sister and it gave me a purpose."

"But the anger was still there," Karai finished quietly with a dawning awareness.

Casey snapped her fingers and pointed at her. Nibbling on her bacon, she seemed to be gathering her thoughts to continue.

In a way, she supposed the other girl was right. Having someone to hate, to hold responsible for her mother's death; it was a good thing for her. It gave her life purpose, allowed her to focus.

Sometimes though, late at night right before she would fall into a light and uneasy slumber Karai would wonder if this were something her mother would want at all.

More importantly, she wondered what she would do with herself when she and the Foot had fulfilled the one thing she had been training for her whole life.

They were troubling thoughts. They were thoughts that, if her father learned about them, could be a gateway to something worse.

Almost as if she read her mind, Casey picked up from her story.

"Once I lost that purpose, once my dad was seeing a doctor and on medication. Once my sister was old enough to hang out with friends instead of me after school. Once a new woman was brought into the picture. I felt like I lost myself a little bit. I defined myself so much by trying to get my family through grief that I never had time to deal with my own. It was fine though because I had someone that I thought I could trust, that I thought would never leave," Casey chewed a piece of her meal rather viciously. "Until he did that is."

"What happened?"

"Accidentally gave him a concussion with a hockey stick. After the fact, when he was ignoring me, I found out that he was cheating on me. Got another girl pregnant, or at least that was the rumor. His dad gave the family money and shit to cover it."

"Why are you even telling me this? You know I'll use it against you."

"No more then I already us it against myself, Karai," Casey said genially. "I've had a lot of time lately. Being drawn into this, it's given me a new perspective on things. Mainly myself and my own issues. I guess what I'm saying is that when you run out of things to do, purposes to have, people to hate…your pain is still going to be there. If you're like me, then when you finally have to face it you spend six nights out of seven at various underground fight clubs. And the seventh night, you're drinking and dancing and kissing strangers in bars."

Casey took another sip on her tea. She closed her eyes as if remembering.

"And then one night, you'll just snap. You'll end up at her grave with bruises all over your body and a bit drunk. The ground is muddy and the air is wet because that period of time in spring when it rains all the damn time just really fucking sucks. You're held back a grade and everyone keeps trying to take care of you. But that's not right. It's never right because you're supposed to take care of them. Inside you know you are hurting these people who for some godforsaken reason love you. Except there you are at five in the fucking morning in front of your mother's grave: drunk and covered in bruises from fights."

"Not like I want to know," Karai said. She attempted to ignore the forming knot in her stomach. The voice in the back of her head that whispered there was truth to what the other girl was saying. "But what happens next?"

Casey opened her eyes. She traced the rim of the cup with her finger and gave Karai a humorless half smile.

"You break. You break like you have never broke before. You shatter. You shout at the stone that won't respond. You rage and rage and for that one moment you hate them. You hate them for leaving you behind. You hate the person that you thought you could trust, who you thought could be your person. You cry. You cry like you're a child again. And you hate yourself for it. You immediately regret ever thinking that because you will always love them."

In that moment, Karai inexplicably thought of Leo. Her stomach clenched again uncomfortably. It wasn't anger, but some other sort of emotion that she didn't want to identify with.

"So what? Is your story supposed to convince me to join your merry band of freaks?"

Casey frowned at the usage of the word freaks. But the other girl seemed to decide to ignore Karai's baiting.

"No. Not at all. What I'm saying is that you had your whole life defined for you by something out of your control. The issues with that is you have the control. No one can do anything to you, about you without your consent. And if you want to pursue this vendetta then fine. I get it."

"There's a but in there."

"Always is. But I think you want your freedom more. And I think you deserve it: a chance to make your own choices. But if that choice crosses the line between people I love then we'll have a problem, cupcake."

"I've seen the Halloween make-up you wear, Jones."

Casey laughed at that: a harsh sound and her smile had entirely too much teeth in it.

"I meant what I said, Karai. You are the maker of your own destiny. No one else. Not even your father," said the hockey player. "Reason I became a vigilante is not because of some sort of purpose. I fulfilled that when I got even with the Dragons. I did it because I made a conscious choice to do so. It was my own free choice not influenced by anything except that it makes me happy."

Karai picked at her eggs suddenly feeling her appetite leave her.

Casey stood and threw a couple of bills on the tabletop.

"Just think about what I said, Karai."

The other girl didn't answer.

Casey sighed and left her to her thoughts. She still made sure to take the long way home, cutting across rooftops and through some alleyways.

Casey hoped that, eventually, the other girl would find her peace and her freedom.

It was just going to take a long time for Karai to get there.

Not that Casey would judge. Flopping down on her bed, she considered her ceiling.

It had taken her a long time to get to where she was as well.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks as always for the kudos, hits, and comments.

If you have any questions, you can always drop on ask on my tumblr: .com.

Next up is more Raph and Casey bonding!


	14. Part Fourteen

**A/N: **The title of this piece comes from P!nk's "Family Portrait".

Also geez it's been awhile since I put up a story. School got a bit crazy for awhile. And can I just say? I am not good at writing fights. But I wanted to write a friend fight between Casey and April. Now that that is out of the way, I can hopefully get back on schedule. If I want to get the story I want up for the TMNT Mini-Bang in time, then it must be done.

Still sorry about that! It's totally like me to promise more regular posting and then immediately disregard what I say.

As always this is un-beta'd!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles._

* * *

**Part Fourteen: **_I Don't Want Love To Destroy Me_

* * *

Casey Jones and April O'Neil never really had friends.

Sure they had people to talk with in classes. Sure they had people they were polite with.

But those special people, those people that they could be nakedly candid with? Those people they could count on to be there when life sucked? The people they would do anything for?

It was pretty much nil.

Outside of their families, they really had no one.

For their own reasons: nerdy and angry, misfit and loner, they were separate from their peers.

It made making friends hard.

For a brief shining moment, Casey had Nick and loved him fiercely. But it snuffed out.

April had Irma, but there was something that was missing with her relationship to the other girl. April couldn't relate to her on the level that she could Casey or the turtles.

When April had found the turtles, she had found her first true friends in the world. It's why their role, however accidental, in her father's mutation stung so much. Then she met Casey.

Casey was weird and wild, loved a fight, and was mature in her own way. When Casey met the turtles, she formed her own friendships with them in turn.

In a way, the turtles were both April and Casey's first real friends. April and Casey were, in turn, both their own first real girlfriends and became the turtles first friends as well.

The thing is when you have people who didn't have friends, suddenly have friends that can lead to friction.

Because those lonely souls, when they finally meet their first true companions in the world? They tend to act like a dragon protecting their hoard. They want them for themselves and it is, at times, hard to share. Even though the other is apart of that hoard.

And it has to do with their similar cores.

April O'Neil and Casey Jones both are mature young women. Despite how silly both of them can be, they had to grow up rapidly at an early age. They both were stubborn, clever, and had a tendency to dig their heels in. These traits were sooner over later going to spark some source of conflict.

An immovable object meets and unstoppable force. What happens next?

"Don't tell me what to do, Red!" yelled Casey.

There was a shallow cut on one of her cheeks, which were flushed from exertion. Her eyes shone brightly with rush and the adrenaline of a physical fight. A steady stream of blood trickled down from her temple mixing with her sweat.

She was still dressed in her vigilante garb. Distantly, in the corner of her mind unconsumed by anger, she was glad that she didn't wear her face paint today.

Still that fact that April insinuated that she didn't belong in the fight got her rankled. Where the hell did this come from?

"You nearly got yourself killed, Casey!" shouted April back. She was also in disarray from the fight. Strands of red hair escape the confines of her ponytail to frame her face. Her green eyes were grave and mouth set into a stubborn line.

A fresh bandage, clearly from Donnie, covered a cut on her arm. The turtle had tactfully disappeared when the yelling started. Or maybe he was just hiding.

Casey was going with the hiding. Normally this whole thing would amuse, the ninja was afraid of a couple of girls getting into a fight.

But right now? April was spouting bullshit that she couldn't stand.

"Well so did you, Red! You ran into that battle. One where everyone told you to stay away from without a second thought."

"Oh don't you take that stance with _me_, Casey Jones," April said crossing her arms. "I am training to be a kunoichi."

"Key word being _training_, April. You are training as in you aren't one yet."

"Well you're no better! You're just an amateur, too!"

Casey twitched a bit.

"I spent the better part of last year in fight clubs, April!"

"OhmyGod Casey! Stop bringing that up! No one cares about that!"

Casey clenched her fist and tried to ignore the blossoming hurt.

"Still proves I have more experience then you." Casey said through gritted teeth. "At least I'm wearing some sort of body armor. What do you got huh? Your tights and a yellow t-shirt? That's going to do jack shit! The Kraang want you, Red!"

"I am not going to be locked away in an ivory tower, Casey. Just deal with it."

"Not if you're going to play fast and loose with your safety!"

"You are such a hypocrite! What is that you're doing night after night?! No one asked you to be here, Casey! You still have your family! You don't belong here!"

Casey reeled back as if she had been slapped. The memory of the mushroom hallucination invaded her mind for a brief second. Quickly disguising her hurt, she growled, "Fine. Whatever. I'm out. Later O'Neil."

She stormed from the room and out of the Lair.

Four sets of concerned eyes watched her go.

"Well," said Mikey nervously looking at his brothers. "That doesn't sound good."

By an unspoken agreement, Raph disappeared into the shadows following Casey down the tunnel.

Donnie rubbed the back of his neck and then sighed.

"I'll go talk with April."

Mikey and Leo watched him go into the lab.

"Should we do anything?"

"I…honestly have no idea," admitted Leo feeling, like his brothers, very out of his depth.

April cursed under her breath and punched the pillow on Donnie's lab cot several times in frustration. Casey could just be so…so…_stubborn_ sometimes. She was always so certain that she was right. She never thinks about these things and acts like April is her little sister or something sometimes.

April ignored the voice in the back of her head that pointed out that Casey knew she was capable and gave her more chances the others to fight. She was embarrassed and angry.

And feeling a bit left out. It just felt like Casey was going on patrol more and more with the guys lately. April was usually stuck at the Lair. This was the first time in a while that she had gone out on patrol and something like this happens.

It felt like Casey was taking away her friends. Which was stupid, Casey was her friend as well. She wouldn't do that.

But Casey was just human, too. Hell even more human then apparently April was. So she shouldn't be acting like she knows best. If she ever got in contact with the mutagen…

April shuddered trying not to think about her mushroom induced hallucination.

"April?"

Donnie's voice was coaxing and kind. The tone he usually took when she did something outside of the realm of his vastly limited experience. The guys were great, but they only had each other their whole lives.

Sometimes they were uncertain of how to deal with her in general.

"What?"

She winced at the sharp crack of her voice. Rubbing a hand over her eyes, she sighed.

"I'm sorry Donnie. It's not you that I'm mad at."

"I know," he said with a placating tone to her voice. Donnie pulled his medical box closer to him.

"I'm fine, Donnie," insisted April stubbornly.

"Let me be the judge of that, April. I still need to check you over."

"I don't need babying."

She felt that brief and familiar flash of annoyance go through her.

"It's not babying, April," Donnie said simply. He looked up at her with his reddish brown eyes. April raised an eyebrow in response.

Donnie sighed, "It really isn't. I do the same things with my brothers, with Casey, even with Sensei when he gets involved in the fights. We don't have easy access to medical care and Sensei has excellent first aid knowledge, but as we got older I was the one who took to studying it more."

"Then how come I'm usually first after a fight?"

Donnie's face flushed at the question. But he considered his answer carefully.

"No one wants to appear weak. Part of it is being a guy. But we're supposed to protect you, April. If it's not life threatening, then everyone will hold off getting checked over. Besides with the Kraang after you..." Donnie trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck. "We just need to know that you're being taken care of is all. It makes us all feel better."

"And Casey?" asked April.

Donnie paused before sighing.

"Casey is…different. She like Raph like that and doesn't want anyone to see her weak. She'll come in after your done and everyone else for me to look over her. Or she'll take care of herself at her home. She is probably used to patching herself up. I don't think anything less then a broken bone will get her to be looked at first. It's a pride thing, April."

"It sounds like a load of bull to me."

Donnie shrugged, "It's just the way some people are. Is that why you were angry at her?"

"No. She just…She just can be so frustrating sometimes. She throws herself into the fight but then gets mad when I joined. It feels hypocritical."

"It's hard for us, April. We know you're good but you haven't been doing this for as long as the rest of us. And we are as aware of that as we are of what the Kraang want from you. It's not a matter of trust. It's a matter of keeping a person we love safe. I worry about Leo, Raph, and Mikey every time we have to go out to fight. But I've trained alongside them since we were little. And Casey has been in fights since she was little, but you've been only doing this the past few months."

Donnie sat back and packed up his medical kit. He seemed to be gathering his thoughts before continuing.

"It's not an issue of trust, April. It's just being keenly aware of how short a time you've been doing this. We know you can take care of yourself. We just don't want you to risk yourself unnecessarily. Does that make sense?"

"I guess," April hedged. "It's just that whenever I bring it up, Casey mentions her time in fight clubs or how long she has been fighting. It's just annoying, like she's saying she is more capable then me."

"Maybe it's not for your benefit, but for hers. Casey is the only fully human member we have on the team. The Kraang have no use for her. Neither does the Foot. Maybe she's just reminding herself that she does belong here. It must be hard to come in like that with dynamics in play and carve out a spot for yourself. It may seem like she's over compensating because she kind of is," Donnie said carefully.

Carefully, almost tentatively, he reached out to take her hand. Looking in her face, Donnie seemed to know what she needed to hear.

"You know that Casey isn't replacing you right April? I mean it feels stupid to say it out loud. But you two are the only people around our age we ever interacted with. Both of you are our friends."

A small knot that had settled in her stomach slowly relaxed at the words. Donnie was always truthful about the really important things.

April gave Donnie a shaky smile. He did always know just how to hit the nail on the head.

She felt a bit ashamed now that her anger had subsided.

"I need to apologize," admitted April.

"Casey left to cool down. Raph went to talk with her or let her vent. I never know what those two when they get angry. Mainly Raph gets angry so this should be novel experience for him," Donnie blushed seeming to realize his babbling. "Anyway, I think it's best if you wait until the morning. Sometimes breathing room is good. Trust me it's how we solve some of our angrier conflicts."

"Must have happened a lot."

"That's what siblings do, fight. But deep down they love each other. Plus you need to remember Casey is a big sister. Older siblings have an annoying thing about always having to be right."

Donnie sounded like he was speaking from experience with either Leo, Raph, or both. Seeing the almost childish petulant expression on his face made April giggle.

Donnie smiled triumphantly.

Now if Raph was having as good of a talk with Casey then they were in business.

"You know those are bad for your health," Raph said by way of greeting.

Casey was on the roof of her building, settled comfortably on the ledge. A small, homemade first aid kit was next to her. In her hands, she was contemplating a pack of cigarettes with a furrowed brow. A lighter rested on her knee.

The older girl sighed, "Spare the lecture, Raph."

"I will if you don't smoke."

"I don't smoke. These were Nick's. I don't know why I don't throw these out."

"Nick as in your ex-boyfriend right?" asked Raph as he sat down on a empty space on the ledge next to Casey.

"Yeah. He smoked 'em. Clove cigarettes," she looked at the pack carefully. "After we broke up, I would light one up and let it burn so I could smell it. Made me think of him."

"Was this before or after he knocked up that girl?" Raph asked, remembering previous conversations. Late night talk while on Casey's bed, her laptop open and the both of them watching whatever movie or show Casey brought up on Netflix.

"Both," admitted Casey with a grimace. "Look it ain't easy turning on and off feelings like that. He was the first friend I ever had. And then we did the boyfriend, girlfriend thing. And that was just a mistake. Then after…I just did it when I felt lonely. Even though he's out of my life and the memories are more bitter then sweet. Part of me still recognizes the scent as comforting."

"Were you feelin' lonely?" Raph asked.

"A bit," Casey admitted. "Mainly I'm upset."

"Because you and April had a fight."

"You heard that, huh?"

"Parts of it. Not all of it. But you two were going at it when Donnie ducked out."

"Yeah. Sorry about that. It was just…"

Casey tried to voice it. That fear in her when she saw April running in yet again with her tessen out but unprotected. How that fear just bubbled over into anger.

"No. I get it," Raph said quietly.

A huff of laughter, "Yeah. Yeah I knew you would."

Casey smiled and pocketed the pack of cigarettes. Suddenly she didn't feel so alone.

Casey and Raph didn't talk after that. Sometimes their friendship didn't need words, especially when emotions were involved. They understood each other and how sometimes the fear and worry for those they loved would just boil over.

The pair sat in silence for a while until Raph got up and checked over Casey's injuries. Casey didn't protest, just allowed herself to be taken care of just for a bit.

"I'll apologize to Red in the morning. Give her some time to cool off. You know I think she can…"

"Yeah. Doesn't mean you don't worry about you."

"How do you turn that off?"

Raph sighed, "I don't. Not really. You would have to ask Leo about that kind of stuff."

Casey rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, "Yeah. I figured. It's my thing to get over."

Raph squeezed her shoulder gently, "It'll be fine, Case."

Casey smiled and hugged him gently. "That sounds like a lie."

Raph didn't say anything but hugged back.

Casey disappeared down to her room. Raph headed back to the Lair under the cover of the night.

April didn't want to deal with Casey's family right now. Not that the Joneses weren't nice people. It was just that she wanted to talk with Casey without them knowing about it.

So she shimmied up Casey's fire escape and knocked on her window instead.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but April forgot how deeply Casey could sleep.

The dark lump under the covers moved after several moments then stopped. April groaned and knocked again, louder this time.

"Come on, Jones," she grumbled to herself.

The lump moved and Casey's dark head popped out. April could see her groan and crawl to the window.

Opening it, she looked outside.

"Oh. Hey Red."

"Hi Casey," mumbled April awkwardly. She felt a bit awkward after the things she said last night. "C-Can I come in?"

The older girl's brown eyes looked dazed, but were slowly gaining wakefulness.

"Yeah sure Red."

April ducked in, landing on Casey's bed easily. She dangled her booted feet off the edge so as to not dirty Casey's blankets.

The older girl looked at her: sleep mussed hair, old pajamas, and a couple of bandages from the fight last night. She had a few purpling bruises as well.

But other then that she looked good and more awake.

"So what's up, Red?"

"I…," April bit her lower lip nervously. "I just wanted to apologize Casey. I was…the things I said last night were uncalled for. I know you just worry about me. But you're my friend and I was just angry and upset. I felt like you were taking the guys away from me. I felt like I was useless. And I hate feeling like that."

Casey tilted her head to the side and nodded.

"Yeah I can understand that, Red. I haven't had a lot of friends either. And I guess I'm just making sure I belong. Provin' that I'm tough and can handle myself. After that spore thing, it's kind of gone into overdrive. I like the guys and I like you too. But let's face it. I'm nothin' special. But you are. And I just don't want those guys to get a hold of you, y'know?"

"Yeah," April said. "Yeah I know. But just trust that when I join a fight I do it because it's my choice and I do consider the options first."

A nod. "Okay. But just remember that it's hard for me to see people I care about getting hurt."

April nodded.

Casey looked a bit awkward like she did when anything with a hint of deeper emotional vulnerability reared its head.

"Is this the part where we hug?"

April didn't answer. She just tackled Casey into a hug instead.

The older girl laughed, caught her, and hugged her back.

That was when April knew that they would be okay.

* * *

**A/N: **Yeah I hope that came across as genuine. Like I said I am not good with confrontation both in real life and in my writing. But if I want to be a better writer then I need to work on it.

Next story is the Glitter Verse's take on "Of Rats and Men" which should be fun.

Also has everyone been keeping up with the episodes? It's totally crazy right? I'm loving Seth Green as Leonardo though. And the Invasion was one of the best episodes of the show. For further fangirling just got to my tumblr: hopenight. I just wanted to talk about it here real fast because I am so happy the show is back.

Although I should say that the Glitter Verse will only cover Season Two. When I get into season three that will be a different story series! Just incase anyone is curious at all. It's a long ways off.


	15. Part Fifteen

**A/N: **Title comes from P!nk's "Just Like A Pill" because I always felt like that song was about control.

This was the most I had ever written in Splinter's voice. I really, really hope that I got it right enough. Dialogue was taken from the episode "Of Rats and Men" and the tenth fic of this series "open up and let it be" was referenced as well.

This works is, as always, un-beta'd.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_ at all.

* * *

**Part Fifteen: **_I Can't Stay On Your Life Support, There's A Shortage In The Switch_

* * *

Casey Jones considered the sheet in front of her.

It was full of triangles, letters, and numbers. Somehow, she was supposed to combine this information in order to give out an answer.

A few early and half-hearted attempts were written on the page, stained by furious erase marks. Casey wished people would tell her when trig was going to serve her a function later in life. Practical classes like auto-shop and wood shop she could get. Even her more creative classes like creative writing and art served her interests.

The Trig worksheet sat before her, mocking her with the half-hearted answers on the page. Casey looked down and the numbers and letters and triangles kept their secrets hidden from her.

In defiance of this secret keeping, Casey drew a velociraptor with a top hat and a monocle next to the triangle. It made just about as much sense as what was on the page.

April, who had her own homework in front of her, glanced at the worksheet that Casey was supposed to be working on.

"Casey!" the red head scolded lightly. It was kind of ruined by her twitching lips.

"Why a velociraptor?"

"Because they're awesome. More awesome then Trig. Can we do something else, April? I feel like my brains are about to leak out of my ears."

April looked down at her own assignment. Her chemistry problem worksheet was starting to swim together in a mess of balancing bonds and molecular equations. She grimaced at some of her answers. She'll have to ask Donnie to double-check her work.

"Okay. Maybe a break is a good idea," admitted April as she put her assignment into her folder.

Casey let out an inward cheer and happily put away her assignment sheet. Maybe with some food in her, the numbers would start making sense. If not, then she had April and Donnie to help her out.

"How about we grab some pizza? Maybe we could take some…"

"Take some where?" broke in a third voice.

Casey jumped a bit in her seat and turned to find herself nose to nose with Irma. She took a steadying breath because Irma was April's friend. Casey was going to be polite to the other girl.

"To the park," lied Casey smoothly. "You know eat under the sky with the trees. S'nice day and all, Irma."

"You're hiding something, Casey Jones," the bespectacled girl said suspiciously. "I'm going to find out what."

Yeah. Casey wasn't a stranger to hostility and mistrust. Both of them had been companions throughout her school years.

She just wished that April's recently discovered childhood friend would lay off.

(And wasn't that a wild story. Irma and April had been casual acquaintances since before April made up with the turtles. Then Irma brought in an old elementary school yearbook, which had pictures of both her and young April. Apparently they attended the same small upstate elementary school for a couple of years together before April moved to the city with her Dad. As things are wont to happen, they lost touch only to find each other now years later. April had thought Irma's name sounded familiar but never placed it until she saw the yearbook.)

"Irma, Casey's not hiding anything," April placated. "You wanna come to Antonio's with us and grab a slice? My treat. We can try that gluten-free pizza you were talking about."

Casey could think of several things that she would have preferred to eat over gluten-free pizza, such as Mikey's pizza casserole surprise and her own hair. Besides why cut out the gluten? It only helped if you had a gluten allergy. Gluten, in Casey's opinion, made things taste better.

"Alright," agreed Irma fixing her glasses. "Sounds like a plan."

Casey shoved her books in her bag and went to get her bicycle. She wasn't going to begrudge April some time with her only "normal" friend.

Maybe she could, at least, try to endear herself to the other girl.

Worst comes to worst, she could send a bunch of texts to Raph. He could share in her misery.

"Raphael, my son, could I have a word with you please?" called Master Splinter.

"Ooooooh," said Mikey with bright eyes. "Someone's in troooooubleee."

Raph turned and glared at his youngest brother. Nodding a bit in satisfaction when Mikey yelped and ducked under the counter.

Still though it couldn't be good that Sensei wanted to see him alone.

He didn't do anything though. Well not anything that would get him in trouble with Sensei.

Raph made his way to the dojo. His mind whirled with the possibilities of what he could have done.

He sat down in front of his father, who after a moment took a seat as well.

"Raphael I have noticed that you and Casey have been spending a fair amount of time together since you met."

Raph blinked a bit. Well yeah, of course he and Casey were hanging out. They were friends. Raph would actually consider Casey his best friend, if he did stupid things like label people's importance to him.

Casey was the person who sent him stupid text messages about school or showed him YouTube videos of people playing horror games. She made him watch teen movies (some of which were pretty okay) or those supernatural-fantasy-horror shows she liked so much.

When he decided to get back into drumming, she would show him really cool videos of drummers.

They also watched a lot of hockey together. Casey would sit next to him, her face illuminated by her laptop and tell him about all the stats of the players. Then they would cheer when a fight broke out.

They were what Casey called bash bros. When they would do patrol together, which Leo will never find out about, they would watch each other's back. When the fight was over and they would fly through the night, they would look at each other. They could see the sheer thrill of the fight in each other's eyes and laugh.

Just because they were the good guys didn't mean they weren't allowed to enjoy a good fight.

Sure Casey had relationships with his other brothers: a sort of sisterly bond with Mikey, a comrade bond with Leo, and something that Raph couldn't quite put his finger on with Donnie.

But the point was that she was Raph's friend, his first real friend, possibly his best friend. April was great and all. Raph loved her like he did his brothers and father, but his relationship with April wasn't the same as his relationship with Casey.

Raph just couldn't figure out why it was such a big deal.

"Yes sensei?"

"I had a similar talk with Donatello when he first showed his…feelings toward April. I plan to have the same talk with Michelangelo and Leonardo in the future. But ah given your closeness with Casey, I feel it is prudent to talk about the facts of life."

Oh Raph had a really bad feeling about this.

"My son, when two people love each other very much…"

"Sensei!" yelped Raph turning bright, bright red. "I-I don't need that kind of talk! I just…geez. No I mean Casey and I are close. But I am really not interested in her like that. Like at all. God if we were an actual couple we would probably kill each other within the week."

Actually, Raph was probably being too generous with the timeline. They would probably kill each other within the first day of coupledom.

"I see," said Splinter, who looked a bit relieved. Apparently this talk was not going to be a pleasant experience for either of them.

"Actually Sensei just…just to be clear. I don't think I will ever be interested in anyone like that," Raph admitted. He just never really saw the appeal in the more physical aspects of relationships. Sure, he could admit that emotional stability and stuff sounded nice. But the other things? Not really doing anything for him.

Splinter considered him for a moment. He then nodded with a kind smile on his face.

"Alright my son. I apologize for presuming."

"No. No it's all right. Casey said that April thought the same thing at one point. Um is that all, Sensei?"

"Yes, Raphael. Could you fetch your brothers? It is time for today's training lesson."

"Hai, Sensei."

Raph had never been so glad for an excuse to leave the dojo to get reinforcements. Although when _Leo_finally got The Talk, well Raph is going to want front row seats to that.

Wandering out to find his brothers, he checked his phone and saw a bunch of text messages from Casey. Reading them through, he started laughing. Apparently Casey was having her own hard day.

Smirking to himself, Raph pocketed his phone into his belt before going to round up his brothers.

The next time someone brought up gluten-free pizza with the hope of Casey eating it without a legitimate allergy to gluten, Casey was going to punch that person in the stomach. She wouldn't even be sorry either.

Vaguely she had to wonder about Irma though. Girl kept on talking about April's "mysterious friends" and wanting to meet them. Granted, she knew the whole story but at the same time April's body language was screaming 'stop asking'.

Casey felt a little bit bad that she didn't like the other girl. She was trying, if only for April's sake. But, as Casey was learning, maybe she meant to only hang out with mutants and half humans and the like.

A normal life was never in her cards.

Shaking her head free of such thoughts, Casey took a hold of her bike and followed April and Irma. Both of them were talking about the consumed gluten free pizza and whether or not it had gluten in it. Casey wasn't sure what gluten free was supposed to taste like, but she privately thought she never had another pizza like it.

It would be a wicked prank to pull on the guys though. She could probably get April in on it easily enough. Given the copious amounts of pizza the turtles consumed, broken up by other foods, she is pretty sure they would be able to truly taste the difference.

Of course they also ate a lot of pizza that was covered in jellybeans and oysters. So maybe they wouldn't tell the difference.

Casey quietly followed Irma and April debating the merits of the plan in her head. When something ran across her sneaker.

"Shit!" she cursed suddenly. Her body tensed and looking for an attacker. She was being paranoid. But well she was definitely taking the motto "Constant Vigilance" to new levels.

"It's just a rat, Casey," said Irma with a raised eyebrow. "Calm down. The little guy was probably more scared of you then you are him."

April was giving her a concerned look, but Casey just smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry. Guess I'm just a bit on edge."

It had been ages since she had a good out and out brawl. Sure the training fights she had twice a week and patrols helped, but she just wanted to cut loose for once. Adding that to balancing her vigilante paranoia with everyday life? It was no wonder that in alleyways she was a bit tense, even during the day.

Fights happened in alleyways. So did alien business deals, robot attacks, and mutant taunt sessions…

Casey considered those thoughts and decided that her life was really very strange.

"I can't believe someone as big as you is afraid of a little rat though," said Irma with a laugh to her voice.

"I was just startled," Casey said defensively. She drew herself to her six-foot tall height, glad that she had finish growing. She looked down at April and Irma, who she towered over.

"It happens," April said kindly. "I still get surprise by rats and roaches. They're sneaky little guys. It's just…ohmygosh! Guys look! It's a kitty."

April happily picked up the cat that was chasing after the rat. The cat was startled, but thankfully did not bite or scratch April.

It could also be because the red head was scratching the cat between its ears, which let out a deep rumbling purr at that.

"Who's a sweet little girl? You are. Yes you are," cooed April to alley cat, who was enjoying the attention.

"Actually," began Irma, "rats are rather fascinating. Given how close they are to humans. It's why they are used in scientific experiments."

Casey let out a noncommittal hum to Irma's lesson. For some reason, she was feeling like they were being watched. Glancing over her shoulder, she did a small sweep of the alley that they just left with her eyes.

The hair on the back of her neck was standing on end. Someone had to be there.

But no one was. All Casey could hear was the soft squeaks of the rat that had ran to a dumpster and the traffic flow of the city.

She shook her head.

"That uh…sounds really great, Irma," Casey said feeling the need to talk. Privately she wished the other girl would shut up.

April, however, was not paying attention to either Casey or Irma.

"The little kitty doesn't have any tags," she said sadly. "We can't just leave her here."

She turned her big blue eyes to Casey, who sighed.

"No. I guess not."

"Don't look at me," Irma said. "I'm more a rat person."

Casey saddled her bike. April hopped onto the bat, the purring cat in her arms.

Both of them were having the same thought of taking the kitty to the boys and seeing what they think. Maybe they would like a different kind of pet.

"I'll see you later, Irma," April said brightly. "I gotta find this kitty a home."

"And what does that make me? Chopped liver?"

"It makes you my noble steed, Jones."

"Yes your majesty," Casey said slyly.

April waved her hand imperiously to get her to start pedaling, "And don't you forget it."

Casey, guiltily glad to get away from Irma, pedaled her bike as quick as she could. April entirely focused on the cat and Casey focused on getting all three of them safely to the Lair.

They were so absorbed in their tasks that neither of them heard the scream from the mouth of the alley they just left.

Even though Leo understood his sensei's lessons about being pragmatic in combat, he was still uncertain of this exercise. It was one thing in an actual fight situation to use whatever means necessary against his opponent. But fighting a blindfolded opponent at home?

"I don't know, Sensei," Leo said, voicing his thoughts as his master blindfolded himself. "This doesn't seem very fair."

"I assure you. It isn't," Splinter said, clearly trying to keep some of the cheer out of his voice.

Privately, Leo wondered if his Sensei enjoyed these exercises a little too much. Especially when he had the chance to best his sons, which was often and with that same unflappable quiet cheer.

Leo eyed his Master, before sighing. He took a deep breath and focused his mind. Slowly pulling out one of his katana's, he assumed the position and attempted to remove all doubt about taking a blindfolded opponent from his body.

"HA!" shouted Leo, running forward with the weapon and slicing the blade downward.

Quicker then a blink, Splinter had moved his position and appeared behind Leo. His brothers barely waited a moment before they broke down into laughter. Leo gave them a sharp look, which only served for them to laugh harder.

"Blind fighting," began Master Splinter immediately silencing the laughter, "is more than honing your other senses. It is about perception and giving the illusion of control."

Leo pulled out his second katana. Barely waiting for his Sensei to finish his speech, he spun in the air with his swords. Splinter nearly bent himself to a perfect ninety-degree angle to avoid the strike.

Every time Leo got closer to his sensei, the quicker he moved from his strikes.

Splinter continued as if Leo was not attacking him, "You make think you have the upper hand in a situation."

Leo swung his swords closer and closer, focused more attacking then listening.

Then his Sensei's hand reached and grabbed Leo's arm. Leaning down to speak in his ear, Splinter simply said, "You do not."

And then Leo was flying through air and crashing on the ground. Seeing stars, Leo decided that he was just going to lie there for a while. He could hear his brothers call out to him and Splinter's reprimand about loud mouths.

Leo pulled himself up. Oh God why did his Sensei have to hit so freaking _hard_?

"You! Turtles!" snapped Splinter in a voice that made Leo instantly on guard. He gripped his katana closest to him and tensed. "You. Will. Fall!"

Leo looked up and there was Splinter with his other katana raised. His brothers stared up wide-eyed at their father. Leo's heart was in his throat as he tensed his muscles to strike.

Master Splinter, however, seem to snap back to himself and drop the sword.

Leo watched his Sensei carefully, "Master Splinter? Are you alright?"

The rat-man fell to the ground and took several shaky breaths.

"I am sorry, my sons. I must…" Splinter paused seeming to gather confidence in his voice. "Something is wrong. I must meditate. We will continue this training another time."

Everyone took the clear dismissal without question. Mikey, Donnie, and Raph looked equal parts shaken and concerned for their father. Leo carefully looked over his shoulder.

He wanted to say something. He wanted to ask what happened.

Deep down, he felt a cold twisting in his gut though. Something was not right.

Casting one last concerned look over his shoulder at his father's bowed head in front of the picture of his wife and Miwa, Leo sheathed his katanas on his back and followed his brothers out.

Mikey stood in front of him looking with wide eyes. Leo summoned the strength to give him his most reassuring smile.

"Come on, Mikey. How about some ice cream?"

The look on his youngest brother's face clearly said that Mikey knew he was being bought off to not worry, but his love of food won out.

"Alright Leo. But none of this stingy one scoop business. I'm a growing turtle after all!"

Leo shook his head and followed Mikey out to the kitchen.

"Casey I promise that Irma doesn't hate you," April said as they made their way down the sewer. The cat peeked her head out of her new place in April's messenger bag.

"I think you and I are going to have to agree to disagree, Red," Casey said with a sigh. She ran a hand through her dark hair and ruffled it up as they turned the corner into the Lair.

April carefully made her way through the turnstile so to not jostle the cat in her bag.

Casey, as per tradition, vaulted over the obstruction. Maybe she and Raph could do parkour together. He would definitely get a kick out of it.

"Looks pretty empty," declared April as she glanced around the room.

In the distance, Casey could hear Raphael on the drums. Donnie was probably in his lab and from the banging going on in there it sounded like Mikey was bothering him.

And Leo? He was either meditating or hanging out in his room.

"Donnie first?"

"Not Raph?"

"Eh. I don't want to bother him if he's practicing his skills," Casey said with a shrug. "I'll go see how the Doc is doing."

"Sounds good," April said cheerfully. "We're going to see if the boys are going to give you a home, kitty."

A meow and a purr were heard from the bag.

Casey shook her head and followed the pair.

"—can't just eat in here like that, Mikey! I'm trying to figure out the retro-mutagen formula and—"

Yeah it definitely sounded like Donnie was in a right snit based on whatever mischief Mikey had gotten himself into.

Casey bit back a smile as they walked in.

"April!" Donnie said brightly from his position of having his brother in a headlock. "Hey!"

"Hey Donnie," April said in amusement.

Casey stepped a bit more into the lab. Donnie noticed the other girl and gave her a cheerful wave.

"What's up Casey?"

"The ceiling, Doc," responded the older girl with a smirk. "Outside of that nothin' much. Hey Mikey."

"Hey guys! Why are you two down here so early?"

"Well," began April coaxing the cat from her bag, "I found this poor little kitty wandering around and I was thinking maybe you guys would want to take care of her?"

"OHMYGOSHLOOKDONNIEIT'SAKITTY!" yelled Mikey, who immediately started making grabby hands for the cat.

April looked amused as she handed the cat over to Mikey. The unnamed cat immediately began purring in Mikey's arms who started cooing over her.

Donnie looked a bit skeptical, taking his eyes off of his brother and the cat to talk with Casey and April.

"I'm not so sure that Master Splinter would allow it. I mean even though he was human, he is also rat now as well. Cats and rats don't get along."

"I don't think she'll attack him," Casey said focusing on Donnie. "For an alley cat she is incredibly good natured, let April pick her right up and carry her around. Most alley cats would be clawing and biting and scratching."

"Besides Master Splinter is pretty laid back."

"Yeah," Donnie said looking a bit lost in thought.

"Is everything okay, Donnie?" April asked, looking concerned.

"Master Splinter has been acting a bit strangely today. He's meditating right now. I hope he'll be fine."

"Is it anything to be concerned about?" Casey asked, her eyes pinning Donnie down.

"No. I mean I don't think so. It's probably nothing."

Both Casey and April exchanged a glance with each other, but decided not to push the turtle.

"Mikey's being awfully quiet," April said. She looked over the turtle that was standing with his back to them. Raising her face slightly she called, "Everything okay, Mikey?"

Mikey immediately turned around.

"Yeah," he said with a cheer that sounded false to Casey's ears. "Everything's cool. Cool like ice cream. Ice cream's cold. I gotta go!"

Turning around and grabbing what Casey presumed to be the cat, he skittered out of the room as quick as can be.

The remaining three exchanged glances with each other with raised eyebrows.

"Don't look at me. He's my brother but I have no clue what goes on in that head of his."

Casey bit her lip to stop a chuckle.

"I'm gonna go see what Raph or Leo are doing while you science-y types talk it out. If you need my help building shit, gimme a yell."

"Thanks Casey," called Donnie.

The girl waved her hand lazily. Stepping out into the main area of the Lair, she spared a glance at the dojo.

Fingering her mother's wedding ring under her shirt, she could only help that he was going to be okay.

He needed to clear his mind.

Splinter took a deep breath and readjusted his fingers. Any number of things could explain why he acted in such a rash and harsh manner to his children. Perhaps he just needed to realign his energies.

Going through the finger symbols and focusing on his breathing, he allowed his trouble mind to settle as best he could.

Another deep breath filled his lungs. Slowly he expelled it as he tried to keep his head straight.

Deep down though he knew that something was not right. He could feel it. It was a presence that seemed to move under his skin. It slithered and crawled over his arms, around his body. It felt like his skin was becoming too tight.

A flash of a grotesque face sunken in and almost mummy like flashed through his mind.

He shuddered as the feeling intensified.

Deep breath. Deep breath. Deep breath.

The face flashed again. The sickening red eyes were like beacons in his mind.

Splinter fell forward. He could beat this.

He was a rat, but he was also a man.

Purge it from his body. Purge it from his mind. He was a father. He was not a tool.

"No." He ground out forcefully. "I defeated you. You were gone."

His eyes opened to utter blackness. He was surrounded in shadow, a fog that he could not lift.

Don't let him have control.

He got down on all fours, trying to find a way out of the blackness. He needed to get into the light, back home to his family.

"No," whispered the voice of the Rat King. "I am never gone."

It was so gentle, enticing to his ears. A large part of Splinter wished to just listen to the voice, to obey its whims. Another part, equally large and strong, was refusing to budge. The voice lied and promised only harm for his loved ones.

"I live because you live," asserted the Rat King. His voice gained strength within Splinter's mind.

"Get out of my mind," growled out Splinter, putting a hand to his head.

"I am even deeper then your mind," the Rat King cooed. "I'm inside your very soul."

Splinter looked up and saw. In the Rat King's claw like hand was his human visage. Hamato Yoshi looked impassively at Splinter before the King's claws swallowed him whole.

"Come to your King!" demanded the man harshly. His mad glowing red eyes tried to pin Splinter down.

"No!" growled Splinter. His eyes focusing on the King as he hands finished the final movements of his meditation. "You have no power over me here!"

He did not. The Rat King would never use him to harm his children again. He was a father, before a rat, before a man, before a mutant. He was a father to his children, to his sons, to his lost daughter, to the two girls they had brought into their family.

Splinter would die before he would intentionally or unintentionally harm them ever again. The Rat King had no power over him.

The Rat King let out a low, velvety chuckle that seemed to echo in his mind.

"Do not fret, Splinter. I have what I came for anyway."

The King's laughter followed him back to the conscious realm. The fog lifted and Splinter was left kneeling in front of the picture of Tang Shen and Miwa.

He put his hand to his head and took a steadying breath.

"Oh my love," he whispered to himself. He looked up into Tang Shen's sweet face. "What am I to do?"

The picture did not move or respond.

In the back of his head, a memory faded by years and grief and healing seemed to respond.

_"You do what you always do, Yoshi. You fight and you win."_

Breathing in again, Splinter was unsure that this was a fight he could win. At the same time, he knew that this was a fight he could not lose either.

He sat there with his head in hands for a long time.

Leo and Raph had both accosted Casey rather quickly in the hall. Leo, practically vibrating with nerdy excitement, wanted to talk about _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_. Casey always up for discussion about her personal favorite book in the franchise happily allowed herself to be swept up in conversation.

Raph had come out a few seconds later. He tackled Casey to the ground and gave her a noogie. Casey went for his ticklish spot under his armpits, prompting a giggle yelp.

Leo just looked at the pair in bemusement.

"I was going to get some food. You guys up for it? I think there's a marathon of classic monster movies on later, too."

"Oh! Dude I am so in," Casey said happily.

"It doesn't sound totally lame," agreed Raph.

The three of them wandered back to the main area where they ran into Donnie and April, who were discussing her chem homework.

Donnie was practically on Cloud Nine at giving April homework help.

Of course then they all walked into the kitchen where Mikey stood in front of the freezer, rubbing his arms up and down each other, and making slurping noises.

Casey took a seat on the stool and raised her eyebrow at Raph, who just shrugged and muttered something about Master Splinter giving Mikey some kind of talk sooner rather then later.

"Mikey," stated Leo firmly, getting his brothers attention.

The orange masked turtle jumped and slammed the freezer door shut. Leading to a box of cereal falling on his head.

"Ahhhh I didn't do it! I swear I never touched it and…"

Casey felt eyebrow quirk upward. Oh Mikey was definitely behind something.

"What on Earth are you babbling about?" interrupted Raph, staring down his brother.

"Uh…" Mikey said, looking nervously at the freezer.

Donnie, ever perceptive, was clearly about to ask what the hell Mikey had done.

Splinter interrupted Donnie, walking a bit woozily in the kitchen. Casey could definitely see that something was wrong with the rat master.

"Need ice for my head," he muttered. He kept his eyes closed and added, "And possibly a cheese-sicle."

Casey looked at April and mouthed, 'Cheese-sicle?'

April gave her a hand gesture, which Casey took to mean she would explain it later.

"You can't go in there!" shouted Mikey suddenly, standing in front of his sensei.

"No?" Splinter questioned in a funny kind of voice. His shut eyes snapped opened wide, looking red and feral. "YOU TELL ME NO?!"

He struck, sending Mikey flying to the ground.

Casey acted without thinking. She grabbed April and pulled her under the counter with her.

"Casey! What are you doing?!"

"Red, you and I have no hope to take him down. Even in this state, best thing to do right now is sit here and…"

She paused as Splinter pawed around the corner. The normal gentle man who could kick her ass was hissing and pawing on all fours. Next to her, she felt April tense and the other girl seemed to understand her thought process.

The boys had been trained their whole lives by the man, if any body had any hope of taking him down for a limited amount of time it was them together. April and Casey were best helping them by staying out of the way, as much as it galled both of their sensibilities.

Sometimes, it was best to know when not to fight.

Splinter jumped on the table. Casey could hear a hiss.

"Help him!" called Leo.

"I got him!" said Raph.

Donnie's feet appear in front of Casey and April's position. It was clear that he, Leo, and Raph were trying to hold their snapped father down.

Casey could feel her heart pound in her chest. Suddenly and forcibly reminded of her childhood fear of rats. It had abated over the years. Her mother's illness had brought a whole host of fears that were greater then being scared of rats.

Still Casey tried not to shudder at the memory of being five years old and seeing the Rat King in the _Nutcracker _ballet her mother took her to. She knew it was just a guy in a mask, but said mask had three heads all with red glowing eyes and fangs.

That kind of image tended to stay with a person.

Shaking her head, she watched in horror as the boys were flung away from Splinter. She pulled April closer, totally ready to do a sacrificial play for her friend if need be. Her friend reached out and tugged Mikey under the counter with them.

"I've got what I came for," Splinter said in an odd voice. It sounded like himself but something was off. It was too cold, too clinical, and too soft. "Soon New York and the world will be mine! Agh…"

Casey heard a thud from above her.

"Sensei!" shouted Leo in concern.

Mikey immediately popped out. Casey and April followed and looked the prone form of their friends' father.

"Ooooh," Splinter groaned. His eyes opened halfway as he rested his hand to his head, "I am afraid that the Rat King has returned."

Casey swallowed thickly, "That…that does not sound good."

"No," Raph said darkly, coming to his feet. "No it isn't."

Everyone exchanged concerned looks at each other. Before Donnie stood and made his way his to the TV. This meant leaving Splinter's care, momentarily, to Leo.

"Donnie?" called April.

"I have a bad feeling about this, April. If Falco's returned then he is going to go big this time."

"Big enough to draw attention?"

"Majorly," agreed the purple masked turtle.

Almost as if reading his mind, the rerun of _Wheel of Fortune_ cut out. Carlos Chang O'Brien Gambe's face graced the screen.

Next to him was a picture of giant rats attacking people.

"Minutes ago, the streets of New York had erupted into pandemonium as giant rats burst out of the sewers. Our Channel 6 Action News helicopter sent in this footage of the streets."

Casey shuddered at the images on the screen. Those definitely were giant evil rats causing havoc in the streets of New York.

Donnie, instead, just looked grim.

"Leo! You need to take a look at this!"

Casey had a bad feeling about this. The screen switched to Joan Groan, clearly not in her right mind as she reported from the center of the chaos.

"I heard about reporters doing anything for a story," muttered April to Casey, "but this is ridiculous."

Raph and Mikey emerged from the kitchen with Leo, catching the sight of the news they ran over to sit with Casey and April. Donnie appeared moments later, guiding Splinter to the couch.

On the screen, a rat was on top of a moving cop car trying to get inside of it. It was pouring rain as more rats ran after people.

"Yeah well they want that local Emmy," replied Casey back to her friend. "Oh God look at them go."

"—snatching people from the streets. These revolting rodents have no clear agenda except to grab people and take them who knows where. But we will bring you live updates from Grody to the Max. In addition, there has been reports of—Ahhhhh!"

The reporter disappeared off screen of her camera when a swarm of smaller rats jumped her. One peeked its head up at the camera.

Casey shuddered, "Oh this…this is bad. Giant rats?"

"You know Casey if I didn't know better then I would say you were scared," Raph said looking at his friend. His bright green eyes were assessing her carefully.

Casey rubbed her arm awkwardly, "I had a childhood phobia of rats. For the most part, I'm over it. But this? This is just disconcerting. That's all."

"Big word."

"Shut up! I read," Casey said sitting down on the sofa.

"Maybe you should sit this one out, Casey," suggested April kindly. Casey shook her head.

"It looks like you're going to need all hands on deck, Red. Can't do it."

"We could really use your help, Sensei," Leo said looking at the blanked out TV. "Last time you took that creep out with one hit!"

"It was different last time, Leonardo. The Rat King has grown into his powers since then. It will be too great of a risk if I join you. I will not have him use me against you my sons. I will not have him force me to harm any of you. I could not live with myself otherwise."

Leo looked at his father before nodding.

"Okay Sensei. Guys we need a plan to get them away from the people fast."

"Why not just lure them away with a big hunk of cheese?" Mikey suggested.

Everyone turned, as one, to stare at him. Casey could see Raph grin almost evilly out of the corner of her eye

"Mikey," Leo said with a grin that was not comforting in the slightest, "that's a great idea. Raph? You know what to do."

"On it."

Casey shook her head, "I'm going to go get my gear."

"Is your bike nearby, Casey?" asked Leo.

The dark haired girl nodded in the affirmative, "Yeah. It is."

"Awesome. You gonna be okay for this?"

"I can deal with it. If Raph could deal with the Cockroach Terminator? I could deal with this."

Leo nodded and clapped his hand on her shoulder. Casey walked down the hall to grab her stuff. Fingering her necklace under her shirt. She would have to leave it with Splinter when she left. She hoped that he would be alright if they defeated him.

Casey closed her eyes and breathed, sending out only one thought.

_Mom give me strength._

It was a literal dark and stormy night when chaos reigned the streets of New York City. Rats: both of the regular small size and the larger, slightly deformed size roamed the streets. Looking for people to drag down to their master who whispered sweet words into their ears.

Screams echoed through the city, a symphony of chaos and movement. Their master was pleased. It was good to please their master for this new world.

And then, a wondrous smell cut through the air: milky and delicious and sharp. Stomachs rumbled as rats dropped their human prey.

Animals, for the most part, were slaves to their stomachs.

"WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME?!" screamed Mikey as he kept his footing on his skateboard. He desperately held onto the rope tied to the back of the patrol buggies.

"Because it was your idea, genius!" called back Raph easily. "Besides you make freaking _awesome _bait."

April rolled her eyes as she kept an eye out for the rats. On nights like tonight, two sets of eyes were definitely better then one. Behind her Donnie was monitoring emergency feeds, so they don't accidentally run into any responders along with keeping in touch with Leo and Casey.

"THIS NIGHT SUCKS!" shouted Casey loud and clear, using her bike as a battering ram against the rats.

"Yeah, the hero business is all glamour," agreed Raph amiably as he pulled a wicked turn that had April clutching the seat.

"SCREW YOU, RAPHAEL!" shouted Casey as she brought Gretzky down on a nearby rat. God she was going to have nightmares for months.

"Watch out, Raph!" shouted April as a three-car pile-up, complete with the giant rats came into their direction.

Suddenly, the Shellraiser came into view. It knocked both the wreckage and the rats out of the way.

"Sorry I'm late!" apologized Leo over their communication line. "Traffic is hell tonight, especially for the Shellraiser."

"Yeah who knew it was that hard to navigate a subway car through city streets?" asked Raph as he made another sharp.

"WHAT THE FRAK ARE YOU TWO MORONS EXCHANGING QUIPPY BANTER? YOU BACK GET YOU SON OF A BITCH RAT!" yelled Casey into the communication line. Several loud smacks were heard.

"GUYS THEY'RE GAINING ON US!" screamed Mikey as loud as he can.

April tightened her grip on her patrol buggy seat.

She could only hope that Splinter was doing okay.

Splinter was not touching anywhere near "okay".

He took a deep breath and focused. He had to fight this. He could fight. He could do this.

Unbidden, images begin to fly on his closed lids. Chaos in the streets, rats ran free taking humans prisoner. They screamed and ran. They begged and pleaded. The red tinged world was a simultaneous horror and wonder to him.

"Revel with the madness, my brethren, there is room for you in my new world order," insisted the Rat King.

"NO! I am not an animal!"

"Aren't you though? You aren't a man either," pointed out the Rat King. "I can see it all right here in your head. Come and join me Splinter. You can be my right hand."

"Never! I will never join you."

"Are you certain? How do you know that you are not already succumbing to my control? I see all. You have no secrets from me, Yoshi."

"You have not earned the right to call me that name."

"Haven't I? Bow to your King."

Splinter took a deep breath through his gritted teeth, "You are no king of mine. Out of my head."

"It doesn't matter. Your choice will be made, Splinter. You just don't know it yet."

The rain poured down harder, making the streets too slick to skateboard on.

"Drive faster!" screamed Mikey as he flipped onto the empty seat of the patrol buggies. His skateboard was held tight in his hands.

"I'm driving as fast as I can," yelled Raph, focusing on out maneuvering the swarming giant rats. All of the sudden one descended from the sky, landing firmly on the buggy.

Everyone screamed as Raph tried to swerve it off. He started punching it in the face when that was working.

Suddenly the rat flew off, being hit in the side with a large garbage wad from the Shellraiser. Several more followed in quick succession before giant rats swarmed the vehicle.

"A little help here guys?!" called Leo nervously as the Shellraiser was tipped over.

"Can't help! Pedaling!" Casey responded as she rode that bike as hard and fast as she possibly could. Her hair was plastered to her forehead and she felt vindicated in buying waterproof face paint.

The rats were gaining on her. Nervously she looked down at her bike, glad that she was able to recently add some additional support.

Okay she can do this.

Focusing until the world seemed to shrink around her Casey hit the button to release the marbles to trip up the rodents.

The marbles were released and she heard several thuds.

A few more of the giant rats appeared, crushing cars as they landed on top of them. Casey narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

Oh like hell she was going to let them get the better of her.

She turned a knob and prayed the lighter would light in the rain. With a crow of triumph, Casey immediately hit the trigger for the aerosol can tied to the front of the lighter.

Flames shot out in front of her path. The large flames drove back or singed the rodents, either way it kept several away from.

Several more swarmed in front of her fiery path, on top of cars and hissing wickedly in her direction.

The girl gritted her teeth. And flicked another switch. She heard the sizzle of the fireworks under her bike, waiting until she got close enough she kicked up her legs. The fireworks flew out, hitting their intended targets and exploding on impacts, sending out colorful sparks.

Behind her, the cars exploded.

While such an act usually looks pretty awesome in the movies and TV, it was not as awesome in real life.

Casey was thrown from her bike and dropped into a roll on the ground.

"Ow," moaned the girl. Her ears were ringing something fierce.

She never noticed the rat appearing behind her before it all went dark.

A flash of movement out of the corner of her eye caught April's attention.

A giant rat was dragging off Casey's limp form into the shadows. Cold fear seized her heart for her friend.

"Casey!" cried April as they drove down the alley. "Guys we need to go back for her!"

Raph didn't need telling twice. He sharply turned the linked up patrol buggies around and started driving back down the alley to get the girl.

Of course, even more giant rats seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

"We need to split up the Buggies, guys." Donnie asserted.

"Don't need to tell me twice." Raph said before hitting the button to separate the cars. He just had to trust that everyone would take care of themselves.

April drove as fast she possibly could. Her blue eyes were narrowed on the target. Casey's form was limp, clearly knocked out at an opportune moment. The rat had no trouble dragging her in this state. If Casey was awake, April could assume that the giant rodent would have a harder time.

The giant rat moved to a manhole cover. Dropping Casey's body next to it, the rodent nosed the cover off.

"Casey!" yelled April as she slid to a stop. Pulling off her helmet, she tried to reach her friend in time.

Quicker then she could move, however, the giant rat had grabbed Casey's limp form and shoved it down the sewer.

April gritted her teeth and made a grab for the tail as if sheer force of her will could pull such a huge beast back. She wasn't going to let it have Casey without a fight.

The rat, however, swatted her off her tail like she was a fly and disappeared down the hole.

"No!" cried out April, crawling over and peering down into the dark depths. "Casey…"

The rain suddenly seemed to stop, but April couldn't bring herself to care. Who knew what they were going to use Casey for?

"April!" called Donnie running over to the girl. A cold sense of dread grabbed his stomach at the despondent lines of the red head's shoulders. "Is Casey?"

He couldn't bring himself to finish the question as April flung herself into his arms.

"Oh Donnie, Casey's gone."

Donnie swallowed thickly and pulled her closer like he could absorb her problems.

"Don't worry, April," assured the purple masked turtle. "We'll get her back."

Of course it didn't stop his own worry from entering his veins. Casey had become important to him as well. He recognized a fellow inventor and engineer in the girl. She was crude in her work, but extremely clever.

He had grown accustomed to her presence in the labs.

Donnie was selfish in the end. He didn't want to lose his other friend or her company.

"I promise we will," he whispered to April pulling her close.

Master Splinter once told Casey that hearing was the first thing that came back when someone was knocked out. So if she was knocked out in enemy territory, it was better to keep slowly breathing and listen carefully.

The ringing was still there in her ears, but it wasn't as bad. It was more of a faint thing like the sensation after a concert and you are right next to a speaker.

Keeping her breath slow, Casey remained perfectly still and listened. Whenever she was it was cold and hard, possibly metal against her back. Stone just felt different when you laid down on it.

She listened.

"Hey," said a very familiar voice. "Hey are you okay?"

Casey tried not to open her eyes.

She knew that voice.

What the frak was Irma doing here?

"Mister?"

Why do people always assume she's a boy? Of course this could definitely work to her advantage. Casey did not to give away her identity.

She opened her eyes and looked over at the girl. Irma was scrunched into a corner with big and nervous greenish-brown eyes. They were muddied then the pure almost electric color as Raph's.

"Fine. Where are we?" whispered Casey, pitching her voice lower and hoarse. Anything to disguise her identity from the other girl was a good thing.

"I-I don't know," admitted Irma. "Some giant rats jumped me outside of a pizza place and the next thing I knew I was here."

Casey felt slightly guilty for just ditching Irma like that. Least she and April could have done was make sure she caught her bus safely. Still, feeling guilty about the whole situation was not going to help anyone.

"I think we're in the sewers though," Irma admitted. "Apparently a guy called the Rat King kidnapped us."

Casey looked around, looking at the other suspended cages surrounding her and Irma. She gritted her teeth.

This wasn't good.

"Welcome, my esteemed guests," greeted the cold and culture voice of the Rat King. Oh this did not sound good at all. Whenever an evil psychopath started like that it meant that they were either going to be experimented on or that someone was going to get cooked.

Casey probably shouldn't have stayed up binge watching _Hannibal._

"No harm will come to any of you," the King continued, "that I promise."

"Well if no harm will come to us, then why don't you just let us go?" questioned Casey coldly from the cage. She leaned forward to look down at the tall, lean, and nearly totally covered form of their captor.

"All in good time, my dear boy, all in good time."

The Rat King started to pet one of the giant rats, "See these were all ordinary rats until I gave them my special patented mutagenic growth serum."

Yeah given how the so-called Rat King looked? Casey highly doubted the thing was legitimately patented. Raph did give her a quick run-down on Falco though. The guy's brilliance seemed to have gotten stronger along with his powers.

"These were not the soldiers for my new world order that I was looking for."

"Is this guy serious?" whispered Irma to Casey.

"Serious as a quadruple bypass," Casey muttered back. She glanced around the cell for her weapons and was relieved to see them propped up in the corner of the cage.

"I was thinking too small, thinking I could just mutate ordinary rats for my purposes. Mutagen does, however, work better with other DNA in the mix. So I have found the key to my ultimate army!" crowed the King, reminding Casey of a psychic James Bond villain.

"And that is?" someone from one of the other cages questioned.

"Rat. People."

Casey shut her eyes tight.

Yeah she was afraid that he was going to say that.

"Oh my friends," the King said with glee, "you will become that Army."

Shit. That was even worse then his previous statement. Around her Casey heard gasps. A child in one of the other cells began to cry. All around the rats, both large and small, chittered in approval.

Irma fainted dead away into her arms.

Casey held her close and narrowed her eyes at the form of the Rat King. She knew her friends had her back.

She just had to hope that they would get there soon.

Splinter closed his eyes as he looked around the room, missing one person. He missed having lips in that moment so he could bite down on his lower one. Instead he gripped his walking stick tighter and shared what he had learned.

"The Rat King had peered into my mind while you all were fighting. He wished to see what made me unique. He is creating an army of mutants like me so he may take over the world."

Raph felt his stomach hit somewhere around his toes.

"Casey…" whispered April, putting a hand to her mouth.

"Sensei," said Raph standing up with his fists clenched at his sides, "we need to go after this guy. We can't let him hurt those people!"

"I told you he is too powerful," snapped Splinter to his son.

"But Sensei," Leo pleaded, "If there was one time when we really needed your help it's now."

"Enough!" commanded Splinter, bringing down his staff to the ground. "I will not risk your lives in this endeavor."

"But Sensei!" April exclaimed standing up, "People are counting us. _Casey_ is counting on us. We can't just leave her to become his experiment!"

Splinter did not answer her and with a defeated posture. He left the room.

"What do we do know?" Mikey asked as their father disappeared into the dojo.

"What do you think?" asked Raph with a grim determination to his face. "We're going to find the Rat King and save Casey and all those people."

Everyone looked to Leo, who with a hard set to his shoulders, nodded his agreement to Raph's plan.

They were going to pull a prison break with or without Splinter's blessing.

His children were going to try to rescue the captives, Casey, on their own. Splinter knew all of his children well enough that they would disobey his wishes in this instance.

From his room and with his enhanced hearing, he heard them leave with minimal chatter.

Splinter entered the dojo silently and made his way to the small shrine he kept in there. The glimmer of metal caught his eye.

The wedding ring of Casey's mother sparkled in the light of the dojo. It was a mocking kind of shine.

Carefully, Splinter picked up the chain.

_"__Promise me though. If something happens to me that you'll take it to my family, make sure that my sister gets it."_

_"I give my most solemn vow."_

Looking at the ring, thinking of the girl's eyes dark and serious with her red painted lips set and so very young, Splinter set down the ring.

Thinking of his brave sons and daughter out fighting a threat that he was too scared to face himself, to go save their friend and a girl he was growing just as fond of as his own children, it seem to wake-up him up from the stupor he was in.

In the back of his head, he heard Tang Shen's voice clear as bell call to him.

_"You do what you always do, Yoshi. You fight and you win."_

With barely a second thought, Splinter disappeared into the shadows. He had to go after his children.

This situation was really, really bad.

None of Casey's plans were ending well mentally. There was no way to communicate with her prisoners and pull them together. Plus she was pretty sure while Irma would fight given half a chance; she didn't want to put up a novice against a punch of overgrown vermin.

While Casey still had her weapons and the hidden set of lock picking tools in her golfing bag, there were no locks she could visibly find to pick.

The situation was rapidly getting out of control and she had no way to fix it. She just had to hope that the Turtles would be able to get here and find them in time.

Casey turned her focus back onto the Rat King. Maybe Crazy Talk Theatre would give her more answers.

"What am I missing?" she growled to Irma in her disguised voice.

"He's going to start a zombie apocalypse with rat mutants instead. You get infected with a bite and it's transmitted from person to person."

Casey swore softly her breath.

"The serum's not perfected?!" The Rat King questioned the white rat on his shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"Did he take anyone to experiment on?"

Irma shuddered, "The guy that was in the cage before you. He was a sewer worker that he grabbed the same time as me."

A long prehensile tail was pulled into the shadows. Casey couldn't see in the low light of the Rat King's evil villain's lair. She could, however, make out a grossly and hideously deformed shape.

"Pleeeeeasssse," begged the shape in a deeply warped voice. Casey could hear the agony in its deep tones. "Forgive me. Pleeeeeasssse. Kill mee."

An icy cold feeling seeped into her bones. Irma turned away from the shadow.

"Well," said the King with a shrug, "not every experiment can be a resounding success."

Why was every single mutant that wasn't the Turtles or Splinter insane? Every single goddamn one of them was off the bend. Casey was torn between wanting to puke and pushing the King into a vat of mutagen.

"This new serum, however, will work," asserted the crazy super villain. "We just need to test it first."

Casey couldn't see what the other captives were doing, but she could almost hear them shrinking away to the edges of their cages.

The Rat King looked straight at Casey's cage, directly at Irma.

"Yes Aristotle," he agreed to the white rat on his shoulder. "She will be perfect for a plans."

For the second time that night, Irma fainted into Casey's arms.

Casey was definitely going to start bringing Florence the mace along from now on.

Instead she sat Irma down behind her and grabbed her two hockey sticks, Gretzky and Jolene, and positioned herself in front of the unconscious girl.

The Rat King was not going to get her without a fight from Casey Jones.

It didn't take a long time to find the Rat King's hide-out.

For that, April was pretty much grateful. It meant that there was still hope for Casey, that she was alive.

And to her profound relief, she was correct.

Suspended in cages, she could make out Casey's distinct form.

"There's Casey!" she whispered in excited relief to the guys. "And…Irma?"

She saw Irma's distinctive hair peeking out from behind Casey, who looked to be guarding her with tense lines of her body. It made April feel a bit warm. Even though Casey didn't seem to get along with Irma, she would protect her.

Leo felt relieved that Casey was alive. But the fact that there were more humans posed a troubling predicament.

"We can't let the humans see us, April," Donnie said almost reading Leo's thoughts. "You're going to have to set the humans free."

He could see April nod her assent with a set of grim determination on her face.

Leo focused his thoughts. He needed a good plan to distract the rats unseen from the fleeing humans. His thoughts were interrupted, however, when a familiar hand rested on his shoulder.

"Sensei," whispered Leo in relief, turning to look at his father.

"It is time to dethrone the Rat King," said Splinter in a grim voice.

"I knew you would come," asserted Leo.

"If I should lose control," began Splinter pinning his oldest son with his gaze, "you do what you have to do, Leonardo."

Leo felt a cold feeling seep through his chest and outward. He knew that Splinter trusted him to do the right thing, even though it would be one of the most difficult things he would have to do in his life.

Leo gave a grim nod, trying to ignore Mikey whispering and rubbing a cooler.

Seriously what was up with his youngest brother today?

"Let's go already!" said Raph, eager to fight.

Leo nodded and shifted, focusing on one thing and one thing only.

Defeating the Rat King.

They stuck to the shadows, melting into them as they have done their whole lives. They were more than a flicker out of the corner of your eye. They were unseen and unknown, but there.

And they were waiting for the correct moment to strike.

From his vantage point, Leo could see the Rat King approach the cages with a syringe in hand. He grabbed one of his katana and slowly slid it out, preparing himself to strike.

When suddenly, horrifyingly, Splinter stopped him and looked down with unrecognizable red eyes.

The Rat King laughed, mad and deep. "You're mine now Splinter! Destroy your sons! One by one."

Leo struggled as he blade moved closer and closer to his face. Yet he was locked in the iron grip of his father, he closed eyes and prepared himself.

"FORGET THAT!" declared Mikey and Leo moved his slightly to see him fling the cooler he insisted on bringing along. "ICE CREAM KITTY AWAY!"

And indeed, there was a cat made of Neapolitan ice cream landing on the Rat King and attacking with an unholy yowl.

It was the most absurd thing that Leo had seen in his life.

He could hear Casey's semi-hysterical laughter from her cage.

But it worked, Splinter snapped back to himself and relinquished his grip on Leo's hand. Leo rolled away from his Sensei and stood on his feet.

"Is that April's cat?" Donnie questioned incredulously.

"Absolutely not," said Mikey a hair too fast to be believed.

Splinter, however, was gone in a instant chasing after the Rat King who had broken free from the cat and given the orders for them to be destroyed.

Leo gritted his teeth and turned to look at the rats.

"We'll deal with that later. For now, let's do what we do best."

How **_dare_** he turn him against his sons. How **_dare _**he use him as a weapon to nearly kill his eldest.

Splinter could see the sparks from his claws as he made his way down the Rat King's elevator shaft. He could feel the pain in his fingers from such an exercise. Yet he did not care, could not bring himself to care.

The Rat King was not going to live the night. The Rat King would not live to make Splinter a weapon against his children again.

He was going to kill him.

And Splinter was going to _relish_ his demise.

They both dropped into the tunnels of the sewers. The Rat King landing on top of one of the giant, mutated rats riding it like a horse, Splinter gave chase.

"You run like a coward when you are a not in control!" he admonished, wanting his fight with the man.

"Who said that I am not in control?" taunted the Rat King.

Splinter only glance behind him as a sea of small rats swarmed the sewers like a tidal wave and him.

Casey couldn't see the fight for herself, but she knew it was going on.

Mikey was not exactly being discreet when he demanded that whatever rat he was fighting would keep "smelling the cheese".

Yet she could keep progress of the fight given the fallen bodies of the rats both large and small along with the clang of metal in the air. Irma had come around shortly after the Rat King left and was looking around nervously.

Suddenly, their cage dropped and hit the ground jostling both Casey and Irma along with popping open the door.

"April!" called Irma, pushing past Casey. "How did you find us?! Did you follow the trail of rat droppings?!"

Casey quickly gathered her weapons and moved to the two other girls. Irma was still babbling about rat droppings when she got there.

"Not now, Irma!" snapped April in irritation. Casey could agree with the sentiment.

"We need to free the others," Casey said in her disguised voice.

April nodded before speaking, "There are several other pulleys with rope. We just need to get there and knock them loose. Then we need to get them out."

"You need to lead them out," Casey said pulling out Cupcake and handing it to April. Her tessen was well and good but she needed something with a bit more reach to defend against demon rats. "I'll pull up the back. They'll trust you more than me. Also you need to get someone to lead them back to this spot. One of his experiments survived the procedure and not in a good way."

April looked like she was about to argue, but stopped herself when she heard the moan of the failed experiment. With a sharp nod, she gripped Cupcake and ran off to free more cages. Casey and Irma also scattered to let loose their fellow captives.

Shortly, cages were falling down every which way and panicked people were following April out to freedom.

Casey was setting cages that didn't land correctly upright and worked on picking the locks open. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Donnie nearly fall into a whirring fan when the chain of Mikey's kusarigama wrapped around his leg and pulled him back up.

Once she was certain all of the cages were free and opened, Casey glanced around and followed the group of half hysterical people. Jolene and Gretzky were steady and solid in her hands, just begging for a chance to be used.

Casey really, really didn't like rats that were not Master Splinter.

She was going to shut the doors, to trap the rats in with the boys, when one of the giant ones landed in front of her. She ready Gretzky and Jolene to strike when Donnie suddenly appeared and beat the rat into submission with his bo.

"Go! We got this covered, Casey," he asserted. His reddish brown eyes were like steel, but kind.

Casey swallowed and nodded, "You always do. Don't you?"

"I'm glad you're alive."

"Me too," agreed Casey lifting her mask so Donnie could see her smile.

His responding smile made her feel a bit weird in the chest, but in a good way.

Shaking off her thoughts, Casey put her mask back down on her face, picked up Jolene and ran down the tunnel to bring up the rear of the line.

Their boys, Aprils and hers, had it covered.

Splinter kept track of his prey. The Rat King hopped from pillar to pillar with Splinter matching him step for step.

He was growing exhausted with the Rat King's refusal to fight him.

A new sea of rats came with his summon, allowing the Rat King to make climb them in order to put more distance between them. The rats tumbled down into the shadowy ether, death to the service of their King.

Splinter jumped with his claws out and scaled the wall.

The Rat King would not get away this time. He would not escaped from Death's embrace this time.

Not while Splinter still had breath in his body.

"FALL!" commanded the King. A new sea of rats appearing, pulling Splinter down and down.

He shook them off and grabbed onto a pipe. Narrowing his eyes, he took a deep breath in.

"No!" he said, done with these trials and done with the King attempting to dictate Splinter's life and mind. "You do not win this time!"

He rocketed himself upward, scaling the walls with a grace rarely found in humans or animals, getting to the top before the Rat King could escape.

"We end this now!" roared Splinter.

April and Irma were ushering people up the manhole entrance. April held Cupcake securely in her hands with a stubborn set her jaw. Casey slid both Gretzky and Jolene into their place in her golf bag.

"Everything okay?"

Casey gave a nod with a rough voice, "Everyone that was captured that was still human had got out. Now let's hurry before…"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. A giant rat appeared from the shadows and landed in front of the three girls.

Casey gritted her teeth.

"You know what?" she asked rhetorically. "I am so fucking sick of this. You want some? Come and get some!"

The rat took the challenge implied in her words and started advancing on them. Casey, however, was waiting.

She planted her feet on the ground, set up her punch, and swung with all of her strength. The punch solidly connected with the rat's face and flung it back into a wall, knocking it unconscious.

"Whoa," she heard Irma whisper.

Casey nodded and cracked her knuckles.

"Let's head out."

Splinter walked through the rubble-covered ground where the Rat King stood. He moved swift and silently with his eyes closed, striking fast when he was close enough to.

The Rat King dodged his attacks. No matter how fast and hard that the ninja master had come at him. The Rat King always seemed ready to respond.

He is not that good of a fighter, that much Splinter knew.

The Rat King struck with a punch: quick and hard in the gut. It sent Splinter falling to his hands and needs, reclaiming his lost breath.

The Rat King let out an insane little giggle: "That's right, Splinter. Bow before your King. There is nothing you can't do that I can't see coming."

Splinter paused at that.

Now there was a thought. How could the Rat King see what he had coming? Splinter had years and years of training, but Falco had only been at this for less than a year. No one could get that proficient that quickly.

How could he see?

Splinter stealthily gazed at the Rat King.

And he _saw_.

"So," he began feeling his confidence settle over his skin, "you think that you are still in control of the situation?"

Before the Rat King even had a chance to comprehend it, Splinter struck. He punched the white rat off of the Rat King's shoulder, sending it down into the depths with its fallen brethren. In the same move, he unraveled the bandages around the Rat King's sunken and blind eyes.

"You'll pay for that!" declared the Rat King. "I can still see through _your _eyes."

"Oh?" questioned Splinter as he wrapped the bandages around his eyes.

After that? After that there was not much of a fight.

With quick and practiced moves, Splinter was able to disorient the Rat King and leave him throwing punches in the dark. While Splinter moved from his grasp and strike him like a viper.

"Control is an illusion," he began imparting onto the King what would be the final words he would hear on this Earth. "It can even be more blinding then the inability to see. It can even…"

He side-stepped a punch from the King, who stumbled and fell off the edge to join his subjects in death.

"—send you over the edge," finished Splinter as the screams of the Rat King became distant and ended.

With sure steps, Splinter began to leave this place.

"Goodbye," he said mockingly, "my King."

He ripped the bandages from his eyes and opened them to face the world, to find his children, to make sure that everyone was fine. He walked with steady and precise steps: his mind and body were again his own.

The Rat King was dead.

Long live the King.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you all enjoyed it!

I also hope that the relationship between Casey and Donnie is coming through. I'm really, really trying hard for the slow build. Because when I get to Wormquake we get into them actually realizing crushes on each other.

Also I am so, so glad that they released information about Hun at the NYCC 2014. Granted it was only a picture of his face, but it was needed. Expect him to appear in this verse earlier then his canon counterpart.

Again I am not saying a word.

I also just want to say thanks to all you lovely, lovely readers! You are fantastic.


	16. Part Sixteen

**A/N: **Oh hey look at new story coming out so quickly! I knew I could do it.

So title comes from "True Love" by P!nk featuring Lily Allen. It's also un-beta'd.

I have a timeline that I have to follow plus a deadline for the TMNT 2014 Mini Bang. So I hope that this all doesn't seem too sudden. I tried to downplay Donnie's crush in writing it. So I hope that it comes organically as it possibly could. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles._

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**Part Sixteen: **_There's No One Quite Like You_

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Three days after the incident involving the Rat King, Casey Jones took careful and measured steps down the familiar path of the tunnels to the Lair. She stumbled slightly and cursed, wishing she had changed before making her break to freedom.

Reorienting herself, Casey used the wall for support as she walked down the tunnel with as much confidence as she could muster.

She fought goddamn aliens and robots on the side. She was the best slap shot in New York City, possibly the state. She punched out a giant mutant rat in the face only a few days ago.

She could finish her journey to the Lair in heels dammit.

With that in mind, Casey pushed off the wall and continued her trek.

It was a quiet Friday night for the Turtles, something that becoming increasingly rare. They were in various states of perfected veg out.

Raph was slumped against his favorite section of the sofa with a pile of comics next to him, reading the latest issue of _It Came From The Sewers_ that April had procured for him. Mikey was playing a handheld video game with tongue out and eyes narrowed in intense concentration. Donnie was messing around on his laptop either hacking into somewhere he shouldn't be or catching up on his favorite science blogs. Leo was sprawled out in front of the television intently watching _Space Heroes III: The Search for Doctor Mindstrong. _

April was expected to come within the hour laden with pizza and ingredients for brownie sundaes for a sleepover. Casey was at some sort of thing for her dad's girlfriend but promised to try to make it.

_Click-click_. The noise suddenly echoed through the tunnels closest to their Lair.

Everyone immediately looked up.

"What was that?" Raph asked narrowing his eyes at the entrance.

"I have no idea," responded Leo.

_Click-click, click-click, click-click. _

The noise was becoming insistent and the turtles instantly put aside their various evening amusements to reach for their weapons.

Everyone tensed, ready to pounce.

A figure appeared at the entrance of the Lair. It was a woman: tall and slim with dark hair held back with a pair of dark red hair chopsticks. She wore a wicked looking pair of black heels and a dark overcoat over a black lace knee-length dress. A ring was wore on a delicate chain around her neck and a pair of red teardrop earrings hung from her ears.

A single thought: unbidden, unheeded, and unwanted popped into Donnie's head.

_She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. _

Wait…_**what?!**_

It took a second for them to recognize who the woman was.

"CASEY?!"

Casey Jones arched an eyebrow at Raph's response.

"That's my name don't wear it out," answered the girl, forsaking her usual entrance of vaulting over the turnstile to going through it. Her shoes clicked in time with her steps.

"Uh wow, Casey. You look," began Leo trying to find the right words.

"You look like a girl!" exclaimed Mikey, staring at her with wide blue eyes.

Casey lightly slapped the back of Mikey's head as she walked past him, "I am a girl, doofus. The event for Linda was a step below black tie. I had to wear a dress for it."

It was a long battle though, but her father would not be swayed. So Casey had to pull out a dress and pray that it fit. There were few things she hated more then dress shopping.

She shrugged out of her overcoat. The delicate lace detail covered the arms of her dress; faintly Raph could see the outline of Casey's rose tattoo.

It was strange how different Casey looked out of her regular garb, even stranger to see her in a dress. But it was a good kind of strange? She still looked like Casey just different.

"I still have some clothes here right? I need to get out of my monkey suit."

"Yeah," Raph said. "In my room."

"_Awesome_," Casey said pulling the chopstick out of her hair, which she ruffled with her hands to get it into its usual mess. "Is Red here? No?"

Casey sighed in a deep annoyance when they all, except Donnie who look a little struck by something, shook their head in the negative. Casey rubbed her stomach thoughtfully.

"Red is bringing pizza, right? I could go for pizza. They had this stuff there that I didn't even freaking know what it was. Like pate and fois grass or some shit like that. I had no clue what the hell I was even eating. Like what the hell do rich people who throw these events even eat?"

As she talked Casey carefully took out her earrings and put them in the pocket of her overcoat. She leaned against the side of the couch to pull off her shoes continuing her story.

"And these _smarmy _assholes kept on hitting on me. S'like I am so not interested okay? I don't care how much your dad makes or what hell ever. They don't own the world."

Casey pried off one of shoes, letting out a small moan of relief.

"The first moment it looked like my dad was going to let me cut out early. I cut out of there so fast. Like you wouldn't even believe it. Of course climbing down the ladder into the sewer in these shoes? Not my best idea. It's amazing I didn't fall. God my feet hurt. Hey Doc?"

Donnie, who had been in a stupor since Casey entered, snapped out of it and looked over to her. Color was rising to his cheeks. He looked utterly perplexed by something.

He tried to shove it down to focus on the issue at hand.

"Y-Yeah?"

Casey looked up with a teasing smile on her face, "Maybe when you're not inventing life saving gadgets and gizmos aplenty you could invent comfortable high heel shoes that aren't murder of the feet?"

"I'll put that on my list," Donnie said dryly. He was suddenly scrambling for purchase. Where the hell did _that_ thought come from?

Why did he think that Casey was beautiful? Not that she wasn't ugly or anything, she was pretty. But April was the always the one he thought was beautiful, from the moment he first saw her.

The first girl he had ever seen…

"_Isn't she the only girl you have ever seen?" _asked Raph's voice from an old memory in his head.

"I-I need to go to my lab," Donnie said suddenly. "I had an experiment running that I forgot about."

Everyone watched him go with a confused expression.

"Hey can someone unzip me?" asked Casey awkwardly, after a couple of moments. "I thought Red would have been here by now. And I can't reach it."

Raph rolled his eyes, stood up, and walked over.

"Turn around, Jones."

There was no experiment waiting for Donnie in his lab.

Instead he returned to the project he had been working on for the past few days: Casey's bicycle.

While her bike wasn't totally wrecked after the incident with the Rat King, it wasn't riding ready yet. Donnie, always ready and willing to improve things for his friends, offered to get in back into shape with Casey.

The older girl, with streaks of face paint still on her face and freshly applied coat of red lipstick, grinned at him. She cracked her and threw an arm around his shoulder.

"Thanks, Doc. Maybe you could help me with my gadgets for her? I need something more then marbles across the road."

And oh Donnie did like a challenge like that.

It was one of those things that he liked about Casey Jones. The girl loved inventing new purposes for everyday things. She loved piecing together her own inventions and creations for her purposes.

It's what Donnie liked about being her friend. April he could talk about science with, but Casey was just pure inventing and engineering. Both of them had a natural knack for those types of studies that diverged and complimented Donnie's own interests. April's enjoyment of pure science, however, was what made them such good friends.

Donnie waited for a familiar rush that would swell through him, that hope for something more.

It didn't come. And if Donnie had to be honest with himself, it hadn't come for a while.

He sighed and stopped hammering out a dent in Casey's bike. Running a hand over his head, Donnie had to wonder when that had happen.

A few minutes after Casey disappeared to wash her face and change her clothes, April arrived with pizza and grocery bags.

"The world makes sense again!" Mikey said as he grabbed the boxes and bags for April and went to the kitchen.

April raised an eyebrow and looked at Raph and Leo for an explanation. Leo's attention, however, was drawn back to the movie.

Raph rolled his eyes, "Mikey's world was rocked by seeing Casey in a dress."

"It is an earth rocking experience," April agreed with a bemused smile. Casey had texted her earlier in the day looking for commiseration with the current fate that had befallen her. Casey's sister, Madeline ended up snapping a picture of Casey and texting it to April.

It was one of those instances where April was glad she was an only child.

"Where's Donnie?"

"He started acting weird and then disappeared into his lab," Raph said with a shrug. "You can head in if you wanna see him."

"I think I'll do that," April agreed as she took of her jacket and placed it next to Casey's. She made her way to the familiar doors of Donnie's lab.

The turtle in question was hammering out dents in Casey's somewhat wrecked bicycle. His hammer strikes were swift and sure. It was clear he was absorbed in his task. She pulled the door behind her as softly as she could.

April watched him for a few seconds, feeling a bit worried for her best friend.

"Hey Donnie," she called out.

"April!" Donnie said in surprise turning around. "Hi."

"Everything alright?"

Donnie's body tensed and twitched almost simultaneously. He rubbed the back of his neck, then fidgeted with his hands. Finally he spoke with a false calm voice.

"Um…yeah. I think so. Maybe."

"Just maybe?" questioned April gently. Her eyebrows were furrowed in concern.

"I just," Donnie said awkwardly shifting. He seemed to gather himself and gave April a comforting smile. "I just had a weird thought. That's all. It's confusing and I don't really know what exactly to do with it."

April sat down and raised an eyebrow: disbelief was written clearly over her body.

"Donnie…" she pressed firm yet kind. "You can tell me anything."

Donnie turned to her with almost stricken red-brown eyes.

"April," he began suddenly before faltering. He shook his head and swallowed thickly. "You know that I-I like you right?"

April blinked a bit and nodded, "Of course I do, Donnie. You're my friend."

"No! I mean not as a friend. I mean like…"

April sat there and felt her eyes go wide. It was like suddenly everything in the past however many months she knew the boys suddenly made complete and total _sense_. Oh God Donnie had a crush on.

And April didn't know. Had she been stringing him along accidentally? Donnie had a crush on her. Donnie had a crush on.

_Donnie_ had a _crush_ on _April_.

And April didn't feel the same way back. She loved him, but in the same way she loved his brothers. Donnie was family, a best friend and big brother rolled into one. Someone that she could rely on and geek out with about her favorite science blogs and listened to her talk about how she maybe wanted to become a reporter one day. He was encouraging and kind with the biggest heart.

It wasn't even that he was a mutant. April could admit from an aesthetic standpoint that the turtles were handsome. If they were human they probably would have a trail of people after them.

They became her family though. In those months when she needed one when her dad was kidnapped. She needed them again now that her Dad was a bat mutant. God Donnie was making a retro-mutagen so she could have her human family back.

It didn't erase the fact that Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey were her brothers. It couldn't change that she loved Master Splinter like she did her own father. She was their family. They were hers.

God Donnie had a crush on her this whole time and she didn't even _notice?!_

April felt like such a heel. Had she been stringing Donnie along this whole time without realizing it? She didn't mean to! April was never the object of anyone's affections before. No one ever had a crush on "Weird O'Neil" growing up.

"Oh Donnie," she said releasing a gust of air.

Reaching out, April took his hand and squeezed it. She didn't want to break his heart, but part of her knew that she had to.

"I know that it's never going to happen between us," Donnie said quietly. "I think…I think I'm actually getting over it. I just didn't realize it until very recently."

"I never realized," April began nervously. "I'm so sorry, Donnie. I wasn't stringing you along. I just-No one has ever had a crush on me before. I do love you, Donatello, but it's the same kind of love I feel for your brothers. You guys are my family and so special to me. You're my best friend, Donnie, and you are just so special."

Donnie blew out a bit of a breath and flashed April a sad little half-smile. This wasn't as a bad as he always imagined it. She wasn't running out screaming or calling him a pervert. It still hurt a bit though. Part of him was still clinging onto a wild kind of hope that maybe she would love him back.

It sucked this growing up business. April's leaving though after they accidentally mutated her dad did put things in perspective. It made Donnie face facts that April was going to fall in love with some human boy one day. It allowed him to start letting go, even though it sucked. First love did not have to your only love. But still his crush on April as embarrassing as it was, remained special to him.

He patted April's hand.

"You're pretty special too, April. I think part of me knew that this was how it was going to go. Like I said I'm getting over it. I think tonight the reality actually hit me more then I thought. You're my best friend also. I don't want to lose that friendship again."

April felt her heart constrict painfully in her chest. She felt a bit of shame for just leaving the guys so easily.

Master Splinter was right: Anger was a dangerous ally.

"I missed you guys. When I thought I needed time away, when I was angry at you, but it was like I needed you all and I hated that I need you. All I wanted to do was come back. I think I was angrier at the fact that over my Dad being mutated I was so ready to forgive you guys. And all I wanted you to feel was my hurt. It was a weird situation."

"It's understandable," Donnie said. "Emotions are weird like that. In those terms, I pretty much understand nothing."

April laughed a bit wetly.

"So friends?" she asked, holding out her arms for a hug.

"Friends," agreed Donnie.

He bent down to give her a proper hug. April reveled a bit in the solid warmth of Donnie's arms. When he hugged you, it felt like that was all that big brain of his was thinking of.

It was a good feeling.

The pair separated after a moment. April bit her lip and looked up at him.

"So…pizza?"

"Pizza sounds good."

The pair of them walked out, feeling strangely clean by their talk. It was like there were no secrets hanging between them now. It was a feeling that they needed in order for their friendship to grow even more.

All in all, Donnie decided, it was better that he was keeping April as his best friend then losing her altogether.

They walked back to a rather comforting scene.

Pizza boxes were opened. Glasses were full of freshly made lemonade (courtesy of Mikey). Leo and Raph were bickering in their own weirdly good-natured way about the movie as they bit into whatever random concoction his brothers asked April to pick up.

Mikey was on the couch with Casey, demonstrating his new Ice Cream Kitty song. Casey with a freshly washed face, complete with raccoon like markings around her eyes from her make-up and fresh coat of red lipstick, was snorting into her slice of pepperoni pizza. She was wearing an old ratty tank-top and a pair of yoga pants.

Eventually she gave up actually in and laughed out loud: hard and loud complete with snorts. Mikey crowed in triumph and started another rendition of the song as he danced into the kitchen to slice up the brownies for sundaes.

April rolled her eyes fondly and turned to Donnie, "Make sure Casey doesn't eat all the pepperoni pizza. I don't want olive, shrimp, and chocolate chip pizza."

Donnie perked up at the last bit because that combination made his stomach growl with hunger.

He nodded though, "I promise that Casey won't eat all of the 'normal' pizza."

April shook her head at his usage of air-quotes before going into the kitchen to help Mikey.

Donnie grabbed a slice of the olive, shrimp, and chocolate chip pizza before sitting on the couch next to Casey.

"So what are those two arguing about?"

"Something about telepathic sex? I have no clue. They were debating it when I came back from getting changed," the older girl answered. "Is Red having you keep watch on me?"

"Sure doesn't want our pizza."

"Some people just have no taste," Casey replied drolly. "And by no taste I mean you guys. I think the algae and worms messed with your taste buds."

"It probably did. So what movie are we watching tonight?"

"Seminal classic. You guys will love it. It took Red and me forever to find a copy on VHS. It's _The Karate Kid_."

"A martial arts movie?"

"The best one of the eighties. Mister Miaygi's techniques would make Master Splinter get all twitchy in annoyance."

Oh. Now Donnie had to see this movie.

"Sounds like fun."

Casey turned and grinned widely. Her make-up smeared carelessly from face washing and her piece of pepperoni pizza half out of her mouth. She swallowed it quickly, "Oh you're in for a treat, Doc."

_Beautiful_.

Donnie froze, watching Casey turn back to the Raph and Leo's debate egging them on. The world tilted a bit wildly and Donnie shook his head.

No.

He was not crushing on Casey Jones.

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**A/N: **Next one up is the Glitter Verse's take on "The Manhattan Project" or "Wormquake" whatever you want to call it.

This may or may not be a two-part story. I'm not entirely certain. I'll know when I write it.


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